Fulper Pottery Co. Flambé-glaze Bowl, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
I came by it from my grandmother when she had passed. I just latched onto it, I guess. It's always been around, and nobody paid much attention to it, and I've always liked it.
APPRAISER:
It holds a special place in my heart, because I began as a porcelain dealer in '72, but about a year later I started selling pottery. And my first piece of pottery was a piece of Fulper pottery from Flemington, New Jersey. And this is a piece of Fulper pottery.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
I bought it for six dollars in an antique shop down by the Jersey shore.
GUEST:
You liked it, huh?
APPRAISER:
So... but this is not just a piece of Fulper pottery. It's a good early piece of Fulper. Fulper pottery started in the early 19th century as a... they were making stoneware crocks and butter churns…
GUEST:
Oh, stoneware.
APPRAISER:
…and utilitarian pieces.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
And in 1909, when the pottery craze was kicking in throughout America, John Martin Stangl, who was a member of the family, German, changed them from a traditional pottery to an art pottery in '09. Fulper straddled the line between handmade one-of-a-kind Arts and Crafts pottery and mass-produced production pottery. And the way they did that is the shape itself... this is a really beautiful Chinese-inspired form with a beautiful glaze. The shape itself is molded...
GUEST:
Oh, it is?
APPRAISER:
...so they made a number of these. But the glazes are different on each one, especially early on. And this piece with this mark, this mark is the earliest mark, about 1910, 1911, maybe as late as 1913. And pieces from this period, particularly the artists, if you will, lavished a lot of attention on the glazing. So while this is a mass-produced molded pot, it's of the highest order. And consequently, people who collect Fulper pottery look for pieces with that early rectangular mark.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
The pricing structure... Fulper's been dead for the last seven or eight years. I mean, you couldn't give Fulper away. About a year ago, a major collection started to come to market. And it came in 15-, 20-piece lots. And because of the quality of that collection, it revived the Fulper market. I think it's interesting to talk about, because why do markets rise and fall? People lost interest in it, but suddenly regained interest seeing how fine quality Fulper could be when the best pieces surfaced. And two years ago, this piece was bringing $800, $900.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
One of them sold recently at auction for nearly $4,000. I don't necessarily want to say this is a $4,000 piece.
GUEST:
You can't?
APPRAISER:
I think it's safe to say it's worth between $2,500 and $3,500 on today's market.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
But a really good multi-flambé glaze piece. And you look on this side, you'll see one thing they were known to do-- not only changing different colors working through the surface, but also different textures. So high-glaze flambés, crystalline flambé, and a matte all working together.
GUEST:
Yeah, right.
APPRAISER:
And that's what they did best when they were hitting their stride.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
In about 1910, 1912.
GUEST:
1910?
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