I’ve had a tremendous amount of luck coming across forgotten pieces of Bauer pottery this year. I think it is due to a combination of my recent education on the different lines they came out with, as well as just plain dumb luck. Also, I have to say that most folks in the pottery collecting business say to NEVER collect pieces that are chipped, cracked, crazed or damaged.

I wholeheartedly ignore this advice.

Because of this, I think that most of the pieces I come across that are damaged are passed over by Ebay sellers who know that they can’t sell this stuff. The price keeps dropping, until it’s in the garbage bin for 50 cents or a dollar. That’s when I buy them. The thing is - I’m not looking to resell them.

For me, as long as the item is displayable - that is as long as the cracks and chips aren’t too noticeable - I’ll pick it up for a dollar. The few exceptions are items that are just too large (i.e. large planters, wide bowls) to justify picking up in less than perfect condition. Just this weekend, we passed on a number of larger Bauer items for cheap at the swap meet because of the damage.

Both of these were a dollar. The first is a nice blue #30 bowl in the GPK style. The second is a berry bowl(?) that I think came from La Linda, but I’m not 100% sure on that.

I hope that 2009 brings more Bauer and other California Pottery finds. This blog on California Pottery has been running for nearly a year now, and it’s been very gratifying to document the various finds. I hope that next year, there’ll also be more folks who can contribute pictures and information to the references which continue to grow. Thank you to those folks who’ve contributed information and pictures so far!