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A RARE
UMBRELLA STAND
Reported by Thomas Arthur
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Tom reported
on a recent find of his which previously was
generally unknown. It is the umbrella stand
shown here. Tom spotted the stand on eBay,
but not under the Brush-McCoy Pottery, as might
be expected, but rather seller listed it as
a Haeger piece.
This
Brush-McCoy umbrella stand is 19½-inches
tall, and the entire bottom is glazed. There
is no mark. Tom’s umbrella stand has
several very interesting aspects to it, as
would be expected since there has been no
published information about the piece.
First
is the general shape. There are two predecessors
of the overall basic shape, "Ivotint
Basket Ware", and “Basket Ware”.
Both lines are products of the Brush-McCoy
Pottery in 1915. (In 1916, a new Basket Ware
stand was produced that was identical to
the 1915 issue, except that high gloss, green
and brown glazes were used.) Besides the
general shape, another common feature is
the band of grapes, and grape leaves and
vines, located just below the lip.
However,
there are some major differences between the two
predecessor stands. One difference is the height.
As mentioned above Tom’s stand is 19½-inches
tall, but the Basket Ware stand is 20½-inches
tall, and the Ivotint stand measures 21-inches. |
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Another
difference is that the side decorations on the Ivotint
stand are missing on the other two stands. Plus,
there is a basket weave motif found on the Ivotint
and Basket Ware stands, but not on the stand that
Tom found.
There
is also a difference in the glazes that were used
on each of the stands. The Basket Ware Line glaze
is a blend of green and brown. The glazes of the
Ivotint Line are ivory with gold in the embossed
green leaves and vines, and pink grapes. The Ivotint
umbrella stand is shown to the left, and the Basket
Ware stand is on the right. The glaze on the new
umbrella stand Tom found is an unusual patchwork
of a green and red glaze, with a white crackle trim.
Maybe
the most noticeable differences, after the green
and red glaze color, are the lack of the basket weave
pattern, and the white crackle trim. Although the
main body of the umbrella stand has such an unusual
green and red glaze treatment, the crackle glaze
trim attracts the most attention.
In reviewing
the literature, a text was found on a 1925 catalog
sheet, contained in Huxford’s reference, “The
Collector’s Catalog of Brush-McCoy”,
that states that after years of experimentation a
new glaze was developed, and as a result, a new line
called Krackle Kraft was produced. In this line,
the white glaze cracked all over in small, rather
uniform amounts, and the surface of the glaze remained
smooth. The narrow cracks in the glaze are filled
with a cobalt glaze, which results in a highly contrasting,
cracked pattern.
As can be seen in
the enlarged side view picture below, the surface of the
cracked glaze on Tom’s piece is rough, and the spaces
between the remaining flakes are very wide. So apparently,
the umbrella stand Tom found was a forerunner of Krackle
Kraft glaze, and if so, it is considered to be an experimental
or test piece. This belief is bolstered by the fact that
neither Tom’s piece nor its cracked glaze, is pictured,
or described, in a pottery catalog, and by the fact that
long-time, knowledgeable collectors have not previously
seen it.
Making
a determination of the production date of the
umbrella stand is most difficult. As noted
above, the Brush-McCoy Pottery experimented
for years to develop the Krackle Kraft glaze.
The closest the production date can be pinned
down now is that it was probably created a
few years before the Krackle Kraft Line came
out in 1925.
If anyone
has any information about this piece, or this type
of cracked glaze, please email the Journal at mpcs@comcast.net. |
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