We have come across a TON of California Pottery at thrifts over the past couple of weeks. For the most part, these were all left behind because they were damaged, or we already had examples of the companies (for the California companies that we’re not actively collecting or selling, we try to buy at most 1-2 examples of each). Many times, these California companies just aren’t identified because they aren’t marked - I think that’s actually a good thing, otherwise Ebay sellers would prevent us from collecting anything at all from thrifts!

This Roselane kittycat “Sparkler” figurine nearly came home with us, but it was missing a jewel in the collar, so we left it. That seems to be a pretty common occurrence. By the way, there is another photo that we’ve been meaning to upload of an ENORMOUS Roselane Sparkler collection from a seller at the Long Beach Flea Market… truly amazing, they must have had 40-50 different animals and were selling them for really cheap. We couldn’t afford to get into them though. =)

I think I was the most disappointed with leaving behind this William Manker Ceramic ashtray or dish. This blue leaf dish was the first Manker item I’ve found at a thrift store - but I guess that the reason it was still there was because of the damage. There was a big chip off of the edge that had been repaired. I nearly bought it just to “rescue” it. I believe that Manker is severely undervalued, mostly because he’s not as well known as other older California potteries, like mentor E.A. Batchelder. People just aren’t willing to pay the book price or anywhere near that for most of his pieces - yet. However, I’ve recently seen a few Manker pieces sell for hundreds of dollars so maybe his pieces are getting more notice lately.

We come across Laurel of California quite frequently at thrift stores - usually it’s just the occasional speckled cup or single plate, and often they aren’t marked which leads to them being unidentified. However, this stack of large gray speckled plates was marked if I remember correctly. A bit on the pricey side, so we left them for another collector.

I also saw this Laurel teapot from the Seaside line at a thrift - we have the same teapot in a nutmeg pink color. I would’ve picked this up actually, since we like the shape - but it had a lot of damage both to the body and the lid. Unfortunate…

I still pick up Pottery Craft when I can, even though the shapes are so derivative of Robert Maxwell and they are quite common to find. I just find it really fun to identify and collect because they often aren’t marked so they fly under the radar. This large pot actually a more unusual glaze and pattern treatment, believe it’s called “Jade” or something like that. I would’ve picked it up because I don’t have an example of that line yet - but it was nearly cracked in half.

I haven’t gotten a chance to make a gallery for McAfee Gardens yet - I have a number of pieces of McAfee in our collection, and I know there are collectors of it because whenever a piece comes up on Ebay it nearly always sells. Very similar in form and style to Barbara Willis and Vally Werner, I actually feel that McAfee deserves consideration for California collectors. This little planter would’ve come home with me, but it had numerous chips. I’ll try get the McAfee gallery up soon. We’ve been procrastinating a bit just because we know that once we put a gallery up, it’ll start to get more attention and might be harder to find!

Lastly, there was this enormous Winfield Pottery bamboo-style dinnerware set at the “antique” part of a Salvation Army. As is usually the case, it was tremendously overpriced. I don’t think they realize just how much of this stuff was made. It also doesn’t sell very well (believe me, we’ve tried). We haven’t put together the Winfield gallery - or the Gabriel / La Mirada galleries, because the history is so convoluted. However, we’ll be trying to make a push to put up some info in the next couple months on them.