The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-12-14

daughter, Mrs. Fenton, could be near
him.
This monumental piece was dis
played at the Crystal Palace in New
York in 1853. II is composed Of four
kinds of ware. The base is the lava,
the second section the Flint enamel.
above this a life sized Parian bust of
Mr.. Fenton surrounded by s Rocking
ham columns, and the whole sur.
mounted by parian figure of WON
an This piece was Mr. Fenton's idea
and modelled by Greatbach. Horace
Greeley in the n. Y. Tribune under
an article called: art and Industry
at the Chrystal Palace" gave a long
description OF the Fenton or U. s,
pottery display. He said around
this monumental piece are grouped
table and scase standards. corinthian
capitals, figures, vases, urns, toilet
sets and a great variety of other
specimens OF porcelain plain and in
laid. He also mentions telegraph in
sulators in white flint and says:
This material Is one of the best
electric non conductors, that can be
lOuiAOf Aldo DItn tlliHAON 0u Qll lIt
telegraphs in the vicinity of Bos-
ton" Under the Flint enamel he
speaks of pitchers, candle sticks, tea
pots, picture frames, door plates, door
and curtains knobs. escutcheons, etc.
He describes the Parian ware as re-
markably fine. Silliman and Good
rich's, New York Exhibition of 1853
published by George +. Putnam also
describes this ware. The first at
traction of U. S. pottery ware is its
quaintness. The pieces were more
carefully modelled than most of the
products OF other potteries of the
period. The glaze was more uniform,
brilliant and evenly applied, and had
a rich velvety sheen. Walter A. Dyer
says, 1T requires a certain sort of
genius to design such fierce lions,
such motherly COWS, such jolly
tobies" Today in the Rockingham
ware pitchers. mantle ornaments and
TASKS are most sought after. The or
naments include lions. dogs, cows.
deer and toby jugs. Many TASKS are in
the form of books and bore such
titles as, Departed Spirits" Van
ished Spirits" and othere Popular
among the figures was a lion with
fore paw resting on a ball and a
poodle carrying a basket in his
mouth. Among the pitchers the most
valuable are Greatbachs hound
handled. The parian ware was more
costly and was always modelled with
greater care. The pitchers and vases
had raised white figures on a blue.
gray or white back ground There
were a few poodles made in the
parian ware also cows, white tobys,
and hound handled pitchers. A fam
GUS piece was the large Niagara Falls
pitcher. the pattern representing a
cataract flowing over the side to
rocks below A collection of Ben
nington ware was shown at the Pan
American Exposition in 1901. Since
then it has steadily gained in popu-
larity. 1t is now nearly as rare and
valuable as Lowestoft. In Boston, in
March 1914, pair of flint enameled
poodles brought $340. That, of
course, was exceptional. At an auc-
tion the price depends on the zeal of
the purchasers. The following prices
are quoted by dealers $50 to 500 for
a good lion. S25 to $50 for dogs, cows
and deer, SIS to $3.50 for white dogs.
Hound handled pitchers $35 to $50,
other pitchers $25 to S35. Candle
sticks $40 to SIS a pair The finer
Parian pieces bringing even higher
prices. Members of the old firm
would doubtless open their eyes could
they know the value now placed on
! their wares
The largest collection of United
States pottery is said to be that made
by Albert II. Pittkin curator of the
Morgan Memorial Museum, Hartford
DR.. Edwin At Lee Barber of the PEN
nsylvanian Museum of Fine Arts also