Most Valuable American Pottery

Collectors know that American art pottery created between 1880 and 1920 is of particular interest to buyers and some of these pieces can be extremely valuable.

Arequipa Art Pottery

Arequipa Pottery operated between 1911 and 1918 in Fairfax, California and its pieces are popular collectables today thanks largely to Frederick Hurton Rhead briefly working there and creating some truly exceptional vases.

You can expect to see a couple of hundred dollars for a typical Rhead container, but the best can fetch as much as US$10 000. The latter group typically have raised squeeze-bag decorations, are relatively tall, and have some colour.

Brouwer Art Pottery

Theophilus Brouwer is one of the few independent studio potters to make this list, working out of Long Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His ceramics are valuable because of the open firing technique he used, and the best ones have flame-whipped glazes that make for striking colouring. It is very rare to find any these days, which is why pieces sell for between US$500 and US$4 000.

Dedham Art Pottery

This pottery operated out of Chelsea and then Dedham, Massachusetts for three generations. Mr Hugh Robertson founded it, his son William took over when he came of age, and then it passed into the hands of Milton Robertson, Hugh’s grandson.

The best Dedham vases are rich reds and greens and it all comes down to the glazing. Size is not very important, and these containers can sell for between US$2 000 and US$5 000.

If you spot one of these rare pieces, don’t think twice about using your yearly bonus, savings, or online Bingo NZ prize money to snap it up!

Fulper Art Pottery

This pottery created thousands of pieces, starting in New Jersey in 1899. For this reason, these ceramics are by and large less expensive, with pieces retailing for between US$50 and US$300. But the best, large shouldered vases, showpieces with exceptional glazing, and lamps, could see you netting as much as US$10 000.

Grand Feu Art Pottery

Grand Feu Pottery was a Los Angeles-based operation between 1912 and 1917. The supply of these ceramics is severely limited nowadays, and top pieces are hotly bid over at auction, with vases featuring unusual glazes selling for over US$10 000.

Most Grand Feu vases have dark metallic or green glaze and they benefit hugely thanks to how rare they are and the fact that they are Californian. It is not so much the pieces themselves that are noteworthy, but rather their history.

Susan Frackelton Art Pottery

Suan Stuart Goodrich Frackelton was born in 1848 and died in 1932, working as a painter and specialising in painting ceramics during her lifetime.

Frackelton pottery is very rare and closely followed by ceramics specialists today. She was instrumental in honing the skills of an entire generation of china decorators and also invented a gas oven that could be used by potters at home. Her ceramics are celebrated because they have a blue glaze covering their earthenware and this simplicity is extraordinarily beautiful. Her pieces fetch thousands of dollars.