Posted 6 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5051 items)
I picked up this early Bennington Pottery lady with a bustle and a pierced hat on ebay. It's a very nice piece. i'm not sure what the pierced hat is for - maybe a muffineer - doubt it though. maybe for sprinkling water when ironing? i think that the dating of 1850 is more or less correct. any info appreciated! thank you!
i don't know whether this would be considered american art pottery or not. probably not. ??
Possibly, a hat pin holder.
A salt and pepper shaker. Isn't Bennington pottery more MCM????
https://www.etsy.com/ca/search?q=bennington%20pottery
And then you have this Rockingham/Bennington pottery.
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/antique-bennington-pottery
Well, yes, no and maybe. Original Bennington pottery should have a back stamp during that era. 1850 was after they stopped the red clay as I recall. I was born in Bennington and raised in the area so came in contact with their products constantly. You can find out for sure by contacting David Gil and/or his staff. He reopened the business but it is now called Bennington Potters. They have archives a museum and are trying to research the early pieces that still exist. They welcome photo's and questions.
thanks Gillian and fhrjr2! my pepere worked at Bennington Pottery in the 1920s. He played the trumpet in a popular big band and supported himself by working a few days / wk at the pottery. i have some pieces which i think he said he made - back east. i also went to bennington college for a year. lovely place!
it's definitely a good mystery piece. it feels early.
I was thinking hat pin holder too
While poking around on the web I didn't find this exact item but found very similar ones from Bennington Pottery. They were listed as "Sugar Shaker Muffineers".
Also in addition to my post above, the date you suggests is in keeping with the others I have located online. I questioned the large holes but it seems these were for powdered sugar not granulated sugar.
I decided to research this a bit more. Because of the glaze this would be Bennington-Rockingham which was first introduced in the USA in 1849. If it happened to be Rockingham it might date a hundred or so years earlier. Rockingham is in England and their pottery was named after the Marquis of Rockingham. Quite an interesting history of how all this came to be. Many companies in the USA produced Rockingham but Bennington was the best known. I still haven't figured out why this doesn't have a back stamp or maker mark on the bottom. Other Bennington pieces I have found are marked. The difference in value isn't that great but I am curious if this might be Rockingham.
thanks fhrjr2. i've never seen a mark on early bennington pieces. ??
i think that there's too few holes for a mufineer. also it seems like that the head would be larger for one. i'm still not sure what this was used for...
The hole at the bottom probably was for a cork stopper, I think muffineer or castor as well, might have been a pitcher for cream too as a set. Even a whole dessert bowl for berries set in the same style, that would be fun to see.
Lots of muffineers out there of all kinds, the ceramic ones did have a few big holes.
This is a Noritake set:
https://www.tias.com/stores/tgod/pictures/9136aca.jpg
Thanks truthordare. i can't help but think that the holes must have easily clogged up and then it was difficult to clean. I did find early Bennington pieces which look pretty similar - all pre-1850.