Maija Grotell Spherical Vase, ca. 1950
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GUEST:
I took a long lunch one day, and I scanned some of the old antiques shops that I'd be around. Just as I walked in the store, I saw this kind of across the room. I had to go over and pick it up and take a look. And you know, I think I paid about $40 for it. You know, it was exactly what I hoped it would be.
APPRAISER:
And you are a potter?
GUEST:
I'm a potter, so the shape and the color, you know, it just caught your eye from across the room.
APPRAISER:
And you knew what it was when you bought it?
GUEST:
I did, a piece of Maija Grotell from her time at Cranbrook.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm. Well, Maija Grotell was a potter's potter, so I can see why you would be attracted to it. And certainly when I knew we were coming here, this neck of the woods, I was hoping to see a Grotell pot. I don't know that we've done one yet on the ROADSHOW. So I wanted to talk about not just this piece of pottery, but about Maija Grotell as a potter. She came here in '27 from Helsinki, and she came to America, because, especially at that time, the opportunities for women in the arts were not that great in Europe, and she felt she would have a better shot at a job in, in America. So she came to New York City, and she worked at the Henry Street Project, where she taught potting. She worked at Rutgers University, across the river in New Jersey. And she's in New York for a while, and she wants a job at Cranbrook, and they wouldn't hire her initially, because they wanted a man. And when they finally hired her in '38, she wasn't sure she was going to take the job, because she did not want to be at a disadvantage with men taking credit for the work that she did there. And during her tenure, which lasted into the '60s, she taught some of the most important studio potters in America, including Richard DeVore, Toshiko Takaezu, and she was deeply influential. So it's great to see this piece and to be able to talk about Maija Grotell, her work at Cranbrook. And this, the way this pot is marked, the "MG" for Maija Grotell, and then the "C" and the "A," that's for Cranbrook, so we know this was a piece that she made there. Not all the Cranbrook pieces are marked with that "C.A.", conjoined "C.A." cipher, but the majority that I have seen have had the "C.A." mark on them. So a beautiful piece, nicely glazed. In terms of value, not a big surprise here. Because the pot's not decorated-- it's beautifully glazed and a great color, too, for her work-- but this would be at auction for somewhere between $3,000 and
$4,000. It could do a bit more than that, but that's the price range.
GUEST:
All right.
APPRAISER:
Had the piece been decorated by her with her incised designs...
GUEST:
Sure, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...the price would go up from there. But for an undecorated piece, it's really quite exquisite.
GUEST:
That's fantastic.
APPRAISER:
Good return on your investment.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
Appraisal Details
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