Paris Pottery Arts - Discovering Lost Treasures: Tang Pottery and SBCD - Paris Pottery Blog

Paris Pottery Arts - Discovering Lost Treasures: Tang Pottery and SBCD - Paris Pottery Blog:      I had an hour and a half today to treasure hunt, so I went to two thrift stores. One is a large chain store ran and operated by a local...

Tang Pottery and SBCD - Paris Pottery Blog

     I had an hour and a half today to treasure hunt, so I went to two thrift stores. One is a large chain store ran and operated by a local church and the other is a small thrift store owned by the Assistance League of Salt Lake City and operated exclusively by elderly volunteer ladies. The first store was one I dreaded going to. It’s overcrowded and lots of junkers are there every single day. They get a shopping cart and perch themselves right next to the swinging doors where they roll out the latest donated items. They pride themselves on being the first to pick every new lot. I feel a bit out of place in the store and I refuse to squeeze and push people aside to look for the new rolled out items on the cart. So if I miss $100,000 hopper edging because I won’t push past people, I will just have to live with that. I also hope my years of sifting through junk looking for pottery have afforded me a keen eye to see what others can’t without having to be rude.
     Today at this store in the display case I found two small terra-cotta figurines. They looked old, they smelled old (yes I smelled them), and the form seemed right. I believe they could be around 1,200 years old. On the service they appear to be Tang Dynasty female tomb figures. The faces are expressive and the terra-cotta edges are smooth rather than sharp. You can tell they’ve been handled a lot, as there’s a darkness to the areas where one naturally holds. What’s left of the paint is distinct worn off layers, and the style of hair and clothes is appropriate. My main concern is how prevalent Chinese fakes are today and without the TL test (thermoluminescence), which costs on average $500 to administer, it is impossible to tell. But they are nice and too good to pass up. I bought them for five dollars a piece.

Possible Tang Dynasty (618-907) Tomb Figures Female 

     The second store was a breath of fresh air compared to the last one. It’s small, clean, and easy to look through with a spare 30 minutes. At this store I picked up an art pottery pitcher by SBCD (Santa Barbara Ceramic Design). I  recognized the mark from a small but beautiful arts and craft flower vase I found last year. SBCD was founded in 1976 by Raymond Markow. With a large portion of creative pottery manufacturers moving to Asia during this time, SBCD was a unique West Coast home grown producer of hand thrown, hand painted decorative and functional art pottery. Their unique pieces are indicative of the arts and craft movement of early American pottery companies like Weller and Roseville. While the craftsmanship is impeccable, unfortunately late 20th century arts and crafts pottery is not always a big seller these days and I’d be lucky to get $40 for it. I bought it for the price of seven dollars. I’ll keep you posted.

SBCD Toucan pottery pitcher by Alvaro Sumon a local Chicano
artist most famously known for his painting La Llorona, The
Wailing Woman (see below)

Hopi Pottery - Paris Pottery Blog

Hopi pottery figure. Woman grinding corn. Early 20th century

     I often wonder why with the little free time I have that I choose to spend it scanning isle after isle of used junk. I am obsessed. It’s my favorite hobby to the point that my husband would sooner believe I am having an affair than spending so much time at thrift stores and estate sales. Am I hard up for cheap goods? No. Do I love florescent lighting and wasting my time? No. Do my friends wonder why I would rather “run errands” than meet them for lunch? Yes. Do I love treasure hunting? Yes! It is an embarrassing hobby like playing the lottery. The chances you find an amazing piece of art or history is so tenuous but there is a chance. And while I never (rarely) find something I could take to the bank, I do, more often than not find something interesting.  A treasure lost amongst the rubbish that I can dust off and save from obscurity.
     Now, I am not a hoarder. In fact I only personally keep things I absolutely love and will display in my home. I do not like clutter and junk. I’ve been to enough estate sales to see firsthand what happens when you hold onto things and it’s not good. I sometimes sell the things I find on eBay but this is also rarely worth my time. What I like most about doing this is the discovery. Not knowing about a piece but being curious enough to research its origins and find its history, to me it’s a beautiful thing.
      My latest find was a Native American hand formed open fired figure of a woman grinding corn and preparing fish. Who made this? When was it made? Which tribe made it? Why was it made? I love finding the answers to these things and sometimes I’m good at it. I’ve done entire family trees for distant friends because I love digging into the past and finding answers.
     I am reinvesting in this blog to share what I find to anyone is interested in taking a journey with me into the history of our civilization through art and pottery. I also think It is important to in share the monetary value of items and what they are really worth.  Not Sotheby’s auction worth,  everyday Let-go, eBay or Etsy values. I try to find a little time every week to treasure hunt. Here on this blog I will show my findings, what I find out about them, how much I paid, how much they are worth, and how much I can actually sell them for. I primarily focus on pottery because I love it and it makes me happy.