From: mike@cc.gatech.edu (W. Michael McCracken)
Newsgroups: rec.antiques
Subject: re: Rookwood Pottery
Date: 6 Apr 92 19:46:38 GMT
Reply-To: mike@cc.gatech.edu
Organization: Software Research Center, Georgia Tech.



First and foremost I am no Rookwood expert.  But, that won't stop me from 
trying to answer your questions and I hope others will contribute as well.

Valuation of Rookwood.  The experts I have talked to (I own only about 10 
pieces, and none of them are what I would call great, even though artist 
signed and not cast pieces), seem to value Rookwood like most art pottery.
They use the following general criteria:
1.  Size, usually the bigger the pricier.
2.  Age, early pieces seem to generally command higher prices.  I should be 
careful here, as some very early pieces don't do as well since they are 
generally not as good.  But, the high period of Rookwood (when Van Briggle,
Shiriamandi (excuse the spelling), and others were at their best is the 
period of greatest value.  
3.  Artist, better artists, better prices.
4. Glazes - both glaze types (some were harder to get great results from 
than others), as well as condition of glaze.

As far as wildly varying prices, two factors usually come into play.
First, sometimes the market is crazy (since there are no price guides, thank
goodness), often you see dealers who don't know much about the pieces, marking
them exceedingly high.  Usually, if something is marked low a dealer snaps
it up before we collectors get a chance.  
Second, as you said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  But there are some
factors to take into account.  Artists and artistry.  All of the artists did 
some bummer pieces.  You need to develop an eye for the artistry, does the 
design fit the shape of the piece?  Does the design look like something that
was put on as an afterthought, or does it seem to be an integral part of the 
vase, and thus both are working together instead of conflicting with each 
other.  Does the design reflect what was trying to be done (a way to see that
is does it jump out at you?)  I know this is not very exact, but buy looking
and looking, eventually these things become fairly clear.  Sometimes you 
get conflicting opinions (just as in art), one person thinks a piece is 
truly great while another thinks it is just ok.

X-outs and damage.  An interesting thing I learned recently from one of the
major art pottery dealers in the U.S., was that X-outs were sometimes done 
by employees (including artists) so that they could take a piece home.  He 
does not hold much to X-outs reducing value, but concentrates instead on the
piece itself.  This does not hold true for damage.  Most pottery collectors
will try to avoid buying damaged pieces (they should go for at least 50%
less).  There is enough undamaged around to not justify buying damaged 
pieces (with some exceptions).  Two more factors come into play here.  
If you love a piece, it is 
priced right, and want it (and allow for the cost of repair), who cares what
anyone says about damage.  The second factor is be careful.  Since the 
restorers are so good, repaired pieces are often sold as perfect nowadays.
In general damaged pieces (repaired or not) are harder to sell, think about
someday your wanting to upgrade or enhance your collection by selling some
of the pieces you bought in earlier times.

The reason prices have gone through the roof is that a major collection of 
Rookwood was sold (one piece went for six figures) at auction in the last 
year.  That auction caused the general market to rise (an apparent natural 
consequence that occurs in antiques all the time).  This collection had 
some great pieces and they went for great prices.  Everyone thus thinks 
all Rookwood is gold.  There are two more big Rookwood auctions coming up 
and probably more after that.  I would be careful during this 
wildly fluctuating period.  So even production pieces go up for no 
apparent reason.

As far as literature and dealers.  There have been several books on art pottery
from museums that have major Rookwood pieces, there are some out of print 
books on Rookwood as well.  In addition, the catalogs of those major auctions
are still available.  Some dealers I trust are Dave Rago in New Jersey, (deals
in general Arts and Crafts, but has been in pottery for over 20 years and is 
truly an expert),  There are some Ohio dealers but I can't remember their 
names, send me E-mail and I'll look them up and get you more info on books
if you want.  The other thing is to consider going to the two conventions 
that are held for pottery collectors.  One is sponsored by the Pottery Lovers,
and the other is sponsored by the American Art Pottery Association.  The 
Rookwood freeks congregate to swap stories, pots, and lies.  You'll see more
pottery than you thought could be found, from the truly great to the most 
inexpensive cast pieces.

Mike