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The real McCoy or a look-a-like?

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    Posted 12 years ago

    Deborah77
    (7 items)

    I found these old salt & pepper shakers in a tiny, dusty flea market in Tulsa, OK back in the early 1980s. This was very near the Frankhoma factory, so I originally thought they must be one of their designs, but since then, I've come to recognize the sort of thin, droopy glaze technique so characteristic of McCoy pottery (plus this blue-green color) and thought it must be one of theirs. However, there is no stamp or mark of any kind (see photos) so I am wondering if they are some sort of imitation McCoy. They look like 1940s vintage, but I have no way of knowing. Anyone recognize them? I would love to know more about them. Thanks!

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    Comments

    1. Deborah77, 12 years ago
      Thanks -- that pretty much agrees with what I was thinking. I do wish I could discover the maker though. Does anyone know whether McCoy ever produced designs without incised or raised marks -- like an ink stamp or paper tag that could have come off over the years? I do know that during the war years they concentrated on making landmines and only made useful household items if they had leftover clay. Seems like a military-style design would have been popular at that time. Any thoughts?
    2. aycockonxion aycockonxion, 12 years ago
      I agree, definitely not Frankoma. McCoy should have the raised mark no matter what era, and the unpainted white part of the base is not in the McCoy style. Nonetheless, they are still old and cool. It is also strange that both shakers have 2 holes on top. Usually the Salt shaker would have 3 holes and Pepper would have 2, basically just because of tradition; or vice versa, it really doesn't matter. The fact that they are the same is what is interesting.
    3. miragirl miragirl, 12 years ago
      Link for questions re: McCoy
      http://www.mccoypotterycollectorssociety.org/questions.htm
    4. Deborah77, 12 years ago
      I also thought that all the McCoy was raised as you say, but I keep running across auctions on ebay and elsewhere that claim their pieces are McCoy yet have no marks. I have even asked about a few, but the sellers seem not to want to get back to me on that question of authentication. (Yet continue to sell at relatively high prices.) :-(

      Both shakers actually have 4 holes -- you just can't see the other pair in the photos. I wondered about that as well since salt shakers nearly always have more holes than pepper -- presumably to keep from pouring out quite so much pepper. Maybe they are both salt shakers?! That would be a bit weird.
    5. Deborah77, 12 years ago
      They do like to make things confusing for us don't they? :-) I wonder if there is a book somewhere that tells the whole story of McCoy pieces -- a true authority -- or if it will always have to come down to whether someone has seen one before and "knows" it is real or not?
    6. art.pottery, 12 years ago
      They're Camark Pottery - not a matched set, however. They were originally sold as a pair, one sailor, one "doughboy" soldier.

      Here's a link to a pair I found on worthpoint:

      http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vtg-soldier-sailor-salt-pepper-149587350
    7. miKKoChristmas11 miKKoChristmas11, 12 years ago
      Love them!

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