A Foray into Another Collection: Depression Glass

Red Petalware Cream and Sugar

Several months ago I purchased a nearly complete set of red coated Petalware, a depression glass made by MacBeth-Evans in the 1930's: eight dinner plates, eight side plates, eight saucers, seven teacups, seven two-handled soups, and a cream pitcher and sugar bowl.  I fell for the color: I have always liked the simple design of  Petalware and have other pieces in monax (translucent white).  When I started researching  I couldn't find any reference to opaque red - and I thought I'd made a novice mistake, seduced by  visual appeal without knowing whether it was a genuine period collectible.  Since then I've been reassured by someone who shared their knowledge that my collectible checks out, made by the original company during the original time of manufacture (some depression glass patterns have been reproduced).  That's what I want to pass along: none of us knows everything about every item we collect and it's great when someone else shares knowledge with no expectation of pay-off  

Czech Pottery: Why It's Not Clarice Cliff

Peasant Art Pottery Covered Jar       
     Trocadero.com /Antiques from Home

One of my first purchases, after I made the mental leap from collector to dealer, was a Peasant Art Pottery cup and saucer made in Czechoslovakia.  I liked the stylized floral motif, the black background, and the heaviness of the hand-made pottery.  Following the advice from one of the books I'd read I priced it at three times what I'd paid and sold it for twice what I'd paid - then I bought some price guides and found out how desirable and valuable that piece really was.   Peasant Art Pottery was the creation of Joseph Mrazek who had emigrated to the US in the Trocadero.comearly 1900s.  He was creative, setting up his business in New York and setting up small factories back home in Czechoslovakia where the pottery would be made according to his copyrighted designs.
The company lasted from 1917 until 1935 during which time Czechoslovakia became an independent country.  Mrazek, an artist of his time, continued to successfully market his stylized florals and another, rarer Art Deco design.  The bright abstract designs remind people of Clarice Cliff but his work was less sophisticated, more folkloric and his pottery was much heavier gauge than the English earthenware she used.  I think Peasant Art Pottery stands on its own as a desirable collectible, along with other Czech pottery from Tulla and Ditmar Ubach.