Collecting has now become front-page news. A top TV show, information from the Internet, and hundreds of new books each year make it possible to learn about almost any collectible. An auction catalog from a foreign country often offers pieces that are unfamiliar. Last year, Quittenbaum Auction House of Munich, Germany, sold many pieces of Weiner Werkstatte pottery made in Vienna, Austria. Roseville, Rookwood and Cowan pottery were made at the same time in the United States.
Collectors can now see how each country interpreted the era.
There is much that is similar. The playful, appealing, chubby figures made at art institutes in Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago in the 1920s are similar to the earlier pieces from Vienna. It was an international design trend. I collect silver-plated and Britannia ware pieces. The major U.S. makers are listed in many places, but I can't find much information on the English makers.