Roseville Pottery Sign, ca. 1940
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APPRAISER:
Guess who made this.
GUEST:
Roseville.
APPRAISER:
You got it. This was a gift from your uncle or left to you?
GUEST:
It was left to me by my uncle Bob. He used to work in Shepherd's here in Providence in the '30s and '40s, and one day he brought it home because my aunt's name was Rose. And he put it on the mantelpiece and he says, "From now on, this is Roseville." So it always meant a lot to her. He thought that I should have it, so I've got it.
APPRAISER:
Well, this is one of those things where finding the mark is the easiest part. This was never meant to be sold. Roseville was a very famous pottery company from Zanesville, Ohio. They made pottery for about 60 years throughout most of the 20th century. They were represented in stores around the country, and when they had a display of Roseville pottery, they would have a dealer sign-- which is what this is-- on the shelf with the rest of the pottery. So this is a Roseville pottery dealer sign. Now, normally this Roseville mark, when you see this on a piece, it's not a good thing, it's a late thing. This mark didn't come in till, like, the '40s. So most Roseville that was made in the '40s is not that valuable. There are exceptions to that. This is one of those exceptions. A couple things about this piece. I've seen these in two colors that I'm recalling, usually blue and sometimes pink. I happen to think the pink is rarer and a better color. There may be some Roseville fanatics out there who disagree with me. These are usually damaged for a variety of reasons. They got banged around a lot. Also, they have a lot of points that stick out. For example, there's a chip on the edge of that "L." Very often, I've seen the "L" just knocked right off, and the one on the end usually has a chip, too. Again, these were not meant to be sold, so at the time they were not cherished. They were not thought to be special. That's changed and that works to your advantage. Very often things that were cherished when they were made get preserved and become worth less as a result of that. This is just the opposite. The last one of these I had was blue and it also had damage. I got $2,200 for it. In pink, my guess is you're probably $2,250 to $2,750.
GUEST:
Really? That's great. Thank you.
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