Modern Variations

I know nothing about these three lovely old creamers except that they came from the UK. I would guess them to be late 19th century faience. I’ve included a picture of their mark in the hope that someone can identify it.

These two are unmarked, but are presumably German since we bought them at Abrecht Glas Porzellan in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany.  They were not sold as a set, and although the kneeling cow might be intended for sugar it also has a mouth hole so perhaps it can equally well serve for a liquid (or maybe you’re supposed to pour the sugar).

This is a finely done but unmarked porcelain pitcher in a basket weave pattern. I'm showing her best side - the left horn is broken and ear chipped, but it's so unique that I couldn't resist it.  Inexpensive, also, because of the damage.

To close out the blue and whites, here’s a simple small white creamer with a ‘blue willow’ transfer print.  Transfer prints have been used on creamers since the 18c, and although inexpensive, this isn’t all that bad a modern example.

More flowers.  In the photo of 5 cows, the two in back are Japanese; the left-most one with the head forward and lowering, has “MTH 1968” written in gold on its belly.  The one in the middle in front, with the brown horns running straight across her head is marked for Elizabeth Crane; and the little heavy ceramic one on the right has “FRIÛL” on its rump and hails from Italy.  In the shot of two, the lady dressed up with the red ribbon is unmarked, but the heavy white one with blue flowers has a small circular blue sticker that says ‘Made in West Germany”.

These three creamers are purported to be Blue Ridge China, the product of Southern Potteries of Erwin, TN (which is not on the Blue Ridge…). From their web site we learn that the site was selected by the Ohio Railroad to stimulate commercial growth along its route, and the pottery was constructed in 1916. The first operators were brought in from similar potteries in Ohio and West Virginia.  By the start of WWI, it was one of the largest producers of hand painted china in the US, with over a thousand employees, half of whom were painters.  Following the war, the pottery succumbed to competition from imports, mostly from Japan, and it closed in early 1957.  If I’m wrong in assigning these to Blue Ridge, I’d appreciate hearing about it.

This starts a subsection of miscellaneous creamers. Some of the ones in these two herds are described in a bit more detail elsewhere.

Another bunch from all over.  They don’t all have stories, but…the little round guy with the red spots and ‘hair’ came to us from Szeged, Hungary (though I doubt it was made there) – the only cow creamer we found in that country.  I remember that trip well because our luggage had been misplaced, so I ended up with a new Hungarian sport coat, shirt and tie for my appointment that day, and by wife bought the cow for me as a Valentines Day gift while I was ‘working’.  We bought the roundish black and white one that’s next to it in a large department store in Helsinki, Finland, in 1997; my wife gave me one just like it from Reykjavik, Iceland, for Father’s Day in 2004.  Cows do get around.

This pudgy and inexpensive one came from Lima Peru, in a shop near the Mercado that sold geegaws for the local folks.  For sure not Peruvian, almost assuredly Chinese (and there are a lot of ‘Chifa’ restaurants in the area), but I couldn’t resist.

Yet more assortments of Japanese cows.  Interesting variations in depiction and materials. The smiling cow with the big red nose on the far right is by Sonosco, a small Tokyo company founded in 1962 by Mr. Muneo Nagaoka.

The only one of these three that’s marked is the large one in the middle – it has a Btritish flag and ‘fine bone china made in England’, but no maker’s name.  The little yellow one came from an antique mall in Bozeman, MT; the mold for it is one of those they use in paint-it-yourself ceramic shops (there are some more examples further on).

Interesting horns on the one on the left with the red collar and grey spots – almost like a goat. It has a square green sticker that identifies it as coming from “j.Willfred”, a division of the Charles Sadek Import Company; it was made in China. This company was founded in 1936 by a father and son team and is still led by family members; they supply giftware and accessories to retailers under both the j.Wilfred and Andrea names.  The cow on the right is unmarked; it’s interesting in that the right two legs are hollow and the base appears to be as well. 

This colorful creamer on a stand - that has a companion sheep sugar that I didn't buy - is labeled "Jim Shore, Barnyard, Certified International, Made in China, Hand Wash Only" and "© Jim Shore Designs, Inc."  Various places on the web note that Jim Shore is a native of South Carolina that has designed a number of lines of collectibles. Learn all about him at www.jimshore.com

Only the cows on the left in each of these two pictures is marked.  The one with the blue toes and little flowers is marked Made in Western Germany, and the one with the round mouth, gold horns and painted blue string around its neck is from Occupied Japan.  I actually think all the others are from the US, directly or by import; these are fairly popular molds, and the cows come in a variety of colors.

This is a cousin of Miss Blue Toes. Very similar mold, with the prominent udder and red-tipped teats, but in this case stamped “Made in Western Germany” in green, and with impressed makers and mold marks that appear to be an underlined T and 8781

 
I’ve seen the set on the left advertised on eBay as coming from the Poconos in NY.  I’ve not been able to determine if there is a pottery or just a store there.  The one on the far right seems to like to have its picture taken since it was also in the group two photos back.

Here are some minor variations on a creamer that’s filled below and is characterized by the large head, thin rope with bell, and legs merged.  They are unmarked except for the gold one which warrants its gold to be 22 carat.  I think they’re American made.

Some interesting variants of the striding cow.  The one on the left is unmarked.  The brown one next to it, with the painted flower necklace, is from B.I.A. (BIA Cordon Bleu is a California wholesale company established in 1952)and was made in China.  The two on the right are both from France.  The one with the orange trees growing up the legs has a green stamp that says Made in France for Hoar (I think), and the brown and white one bears a belly-stamp of a gold Eiffel Tower with “Lamalle, NY City, Made in France” (Lamalle Kitchenware of W.25th St Manhattan specializes in professional grade cookware…thus this must indeed be a high-end cow!).

Here are two gold plated cows, accompanied by an unmarked flowered one with gold accents, for contrast.  The one on the left with the raised gold ‘splotches’, which is from basically the same mold as the many-colored ones from Kenmar of Japan, is from the McCoy ‘Sunburst’ line, and was produced only in 1957.  From the Kovels.com priceguide website, I learned that “McCoy pottery was made in Roseville, Ohio. Nelson McCoy and J.W. McCoy established the Nelson McCoy Sanitary and Stoneware Company in Roseville, Ohio, in 1910. The firm made art pottery after 1926. In 1933 it became the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company. Pieces marked McCoy were made by the Nelson McCoy Pottery Company. Cookie jars were made from about 1940 until December 1990, when the McCoy factory closed. Since 1991 pottery with the McCoy mark has been made by firms unrelated to the original company. Because there was a company named Brush-McCoy, there is great confusion between Brush and Nelson McCoy pieces.”  The gold creamer on the right is from designed Marc Blackwell of New York and bears his MB in a circle mark. Check his website at www.marcblackwell.com

The white creamer with black spots and the fully open back came without identification from eBay.  The blue spongeware one is from Hudsonware of Vermont. These folks seem to find their niche in the coloring technique, not in unique shapes, since this one is from the same mold as the black and white Carnation creamer (see Ads and Souvenirs), and another one of theirs that’s shown in Pitchers also is from a mold used elsewhere.

A pair perchance? At any rate, a bull and a cow, both from Japan

The kneeling brown and white cow in the middle is marked for Lavie, ©1996.   In the other photo, the unmarked one on the left that says ‘cream’ has been sprayed with bumpy white paint; I’d guess this to be a home-done job.  The stubby creamer with blue flowers in the middle is from Trippies, Inc © 1998 , Made in Taiwan; Trippies is a family owned importer and wholesaler of giftware and cemetery decorations that was established in 1948 and has its showrooms in Columbus, OH.  The creamer on the  right was hand painted in Japan.  It’s another of those that I keep forgetting that I already have, so there are now 4 of then cluttering the shelves.

More duplicates, if all you count is the mold.  This lady with the flat nose and large horns has a raised necklace of flowers, a bell, and a blanket with 3 indented flowers on each side, held on with a strap under the belly.  None of these three are marked, but the black one is from red clay and is very similar in coloration to the three-tiered teapot set that’s from Thames, so that would be my guess.  The other two are ceramic.  There’s also a green version of this creamer hiding somewhere in this theme…

These two represent one of the most widely available creamer shapes, and I believe the prototypical one is from Kenmar, Japan, as discussed in the Favorite Brands theme.  So why these two here? Well, mostly because the white one with brown spots and yellow horns is metal – the only one like it I’ve even seen.  The pink one also has a bit of a story; it’s a replacement for one that jumped off our kitchen shelf many years ago – the only cow we have had that has tried that trick.  I still have the head.

Here are a couple more of the same style, mostly to show the variety of fanciful colorations and the subtle differences in size and shape

The little black sitting bulls are quite common – made in Japan of course; and from a few different molds, as these two are not quite alike.  The big black one on the left with gold hooves and horns is of red clay; the others are ceramic.  Not all are Japanese – the one in the middle is marked “Coventry Made in USA”, and has their number “5540 B”.  The seller indicated it was from the 1940’s, and probably designed by Elaine Carlock, who was their designer and sculptress. From the ‘ohiolink’ website we learn that  Coventry Ware inc took its name from the township in which it was located; it was originally D’Or studios, which was started in 1932 by Carrie Orr Daum. The studio initially made plaster products, and began to manufacture ceramics in the 40s.  During the war years it produced molds for soldiers’ equipment.  Following the war it, like many other US ceramics firms, lost much of its market to cheaper foreign goods, and it closed in the midl960s.   In the photo of two cows and a bucket, the luster one is unmarked and quite similar to those in the other photo; the white one with the blue and gold garland and gold horns, hooves and bell is quite different, and came accompanied by salt and pepper sharers as well as the bucket sugar.  He has a silver sticker that says Napco Ceramic, Japan, and the number S1294.  The very useful website www.headvasemuseum.com tells us that “Established in 1938 in Bedford, Ohio, the National Potteries Corporation, otherwise known as Napco, imports various styles of ceramic, glass, and china giftware. Irwin Garber, who would later launch INARCO, joined the company in the mid-40s and spearheaded its development of head vases. Owned and operated in the Midwest, Napco distributed a variety of collectibles, including decorative wall accessories, ashtrays, ceramic and wood house wares, floral arrangements, ceramic planters, decorative glass, novelty figurines, mugs, trivets, and Christmas ceramics. Napco used a wide array of marks…”.  My thanks to Supon who decided to share his interests.

Two more sitting bulls, both from Japan. The larger bears the stamp of a black circle divided into three parts over “Made in Japan”. This mark was used by Maruyama Toki Yamashiro Ryuhei, Seto, Aichi province and in the 1920s- and 1930s.

Here’s another group of sitting cows that look quite similar to each other, although they come from very different locations.  The yellow one bears a scene entitled “La Veille”, and was indeed purchased in “Normandie”.  The brown one is made of some very heavy, dense material and came from the Amalfi Peninsula in Italy.  The white faced one with the bright flowers all over was made in Taiwan, and its neighbor with the pink flowers and tail was ‘handcrafted’ in Thailand.  Flat earth, I guess.

More look-alikes.  None of the cows in the shot of four are marked, although someone suggested that the ones in the middle are from Dee Lee pottery of California, and the one with the blue flower has “D” written on the bottom.   In the second set, the one on the left that’s basically identical to them is a bit more informative; it has a blue stamp of a palette with “Sleepy Hollow Pottery, Laguna Beach, Calif”, and the written letter “A” – perhaps the same pottery, different painter.  The blue one is unmarked and is obviously from a different mold although with the same basic features (including the udder that sticks out between the legs on both sides, ouch); the one on the right with the flower necklace has written in pencil on the bottom, “”RDE, 2.65”; presumably, the price at one point in its life (I paid 8.99!).  The third photo carries on the theme, although “Roy” and “Batchie”, a bull and cow creamer and sugar set, would appear to come from a paint-it yourself shop.

Here’s yet another variant – this time without the udder sticking out to the side.  It bears the script inscription “Margorie Montgomery Studios” about which I know nothing. It came with a chipped right rear foot which wasn’t mentioned in the eBay description, so the seller kindly refunded my money (and said to just throw it away, which I couldn’t bear to do…)

These small heavy ceramic creamers are quite common, and I think that they may come from several US potteries, although the basic form is attributable to Rio Hondo Pottery of El Monte, CA, which produced whimsical animal ceramic figurines from the 1930s to the early 50’s. These little creamers are hand decorated, so they have a wide range of markings. I have also seen them advertised as possibly Shawnee (a Zanesville, Ohio company, that produced fanciful pottery items starting in 1937), although I’ve never actually seen any cows with their label or mark.

Flat-topped cows with holes in the tops of their heads seem to come in two basic varieties  -  sort of rectangular ones and sort of roundish ones. In the shot of 5, the big white and orange bull only has some numbers.  The brown pitcher to its left is stamped Bavaria, and the potter’s mark is an inverted triangle; the light green one that’s somewhat similar is unmarked.  The little blue guy on the left of both shots is simply stamped Japan.  The other three, with stubby horns and flowers that are holding their tummies with their front legs, have a palette shaped sticker from ARDCO, Fine Quality, Dallas, and were made in Japan.  One of them has the original price tag from Gibson’s…69 cents.

Here are 3 with a shape similar to the large orange and white one above.  It’s ‘sister’ here is actually slightly smaller (though the little blue one, marked “Made in Japan” is sitting on the quarter so it’s impossible to tell.)  I would guess that the white one with red flowers, although unmarked except for the written number ‘801’, is European, probably Italian or Portuguese.

These two are indeed cows, albeit looking like they have a bit of donkey DNA. They came to me from Australia, unmarked except that one bears a stamp for “Japan”

From sitting cows, we move to cows lying down.  Although the brown creamer on the left is unmarked, it is quite similar to the white one in the photo of four which is stamped for T.G.Green, Ltd., Church Gresley (Swadlincote, Derbyshire), and Made in England.  Plus, we bought it at the famous Bermondsey market in London, so it’s almost certainly English.  T.G.Green was established in the 1790s, and is apparently most well known for what is called ‘Cornishware’; poking around on the web, it would seem that at some point it became part of the Table Top Company, and the Church Gresley plant has recently been closed.  The grey and white cow next to the dark brown one is from Japan, although it bears a close resemblance to the German ones, like the white one on the far right; that one is inscribed ‘1891’ in addition to ‘Germany’ (I believe, both from the nature of the inscription and the shape of the head, that it’s by Gerold Porzellan of Bavaria).  The small brown ones, 3rd from left and far right in the two photos, are also inscribed Germany between the hooves on their lower right side; the one in the photo of six was said to date from around 1910; the dark brown one appears to me to be much newer. For the rest – the large brown cow with its feet together in front, 3rd from right in the photo of six, is English; the others are from Japan.

Two English creamers from this fairly common mold were shown on the Places page. Here are a couple different ones – the white cow with brown spots is marked for Devon Ware, Fielding (which is discussed in the Places page), but the really interesting one is its neighbor, “Safe Harbor”, which appears to have been made for some special occasion or group. Interestingly it came to me from a German-Amish area in Indiana, and probably came over to the US with one of those families.

On the left is a typically English kneeling cow; and on the right a fine specimen, handpainted, from Trico, Nagoya-Japan.  I can find a lot of their products, but no information about the company, on the web.

These two seem to be nearly identical but for the marks – one is stamped Germany, the other Bavaria, bought together on eBay.  Perhaps someone can explain this…

This well molded, hard porcelain creamer is unmarked, but I’d guess it to be European from early 20c.

The white creamer with black spots is stamped ‘made in occupied Japan’.  It’s the nicest piece from that era that I have seen.  The brown cow with the large head is a very nice example of Czechoslovakian porcelain.

This creamer pattern is often advertised as ‘cute’. I find it rather awful, actually, but then I guess my tastes differ. It frequently comes with sugar bowls and salt and pepper shakers.  Makes it even worse! What I find most amazing about it however is the wide variety of molds, as well as colorations, shapes, and materials (note that there’s even a metal one) in which it is made.  I’ve also seen it attributed to a number of potteries.  The box that says its name is Bossy isn’t any help – this version was made in Taiwan, but there’s no other information.  From the number of these for sale on eBay – there’s always 5-6 of them on offer - it remains unseemingly popular. Ugh!  So why do I buy it or display it? Well, collections like this can’t be based just on personal preference – we’re equal opportunity cow-ists.  I did of course check the web for ‘Bossy Cow’; it turns out there are actually a couple of web sites that use that name, but they don’t relate to this beast.  World Wide Words does however provide some information on the name ‘Bossy’ for a cow – it apparently derives either from the Latin bos (ox or cow) or West County dialect where a buss or bussa is a young unweaned calf. I also learned that The California Aggies (UC Davis) have a ‘Bossy Cow Cow’ cheer.  Amazing.

Now, these I like.  Perhaps it’s because my Dad made me the black one on the far right of the shot of four.  Actually all of these are ‘homemade’ in the sense of having come from a ‘paint it yourself” ceramic shop.  Lots of love, or at least ‘like’, invested here.  These molds are also used by the ‘pros’ of course – but it’s the fact that so many of them have rather odd colorations and idiosyncratic additions that endears them to me.  Maybe, one day, I’ll do one myself!

Without completely intending to, the collection has here slipped back into the sub-category of ‘several of a kind’, meaning deliberate purchases as opposed to just random whoops.   Here, the fence is a clear demarcation of cow contents – milk, half & half, and cream, marked on both their chests and their foreheads.  Otherwise unordinary as individuals, that makes these three chubby little cows pretty special, and not found as a group that often, especially in their little cage.  The red and gold labels on their sides read “Our Own Import, © Japan”.

Apparently these little chubby cows didn’t always come in sets…here’s one from the same mold that’s all on its own.

Four more ‘matching’ cows, again from Japan.  The Japanese sure have many fanciful ideas about how cows should look.

These 2 are heavy ceramic, and although unmarked are also most likely from Japan.  Who else has such imagination?

Will the real Elsie please stand up?  Actually, the two in the middle are both ‘originals’ – the white one which has a blue “Elsie” sticker and “© Bordon Co.” stamped on the bottom, and the light brown one, which while unmarked is identical to one of the two that were featured in the Ads and Souvenirs Theme, where Elsie’s story is told.  The white ‘fake Elsie’ on the left looks nearly identical but is not as well executed and is hand painted; I’d imagine it was made from a mold that was taken from an original.  The yellow and brown on the right, like those in the next few pictures, was apparently designed to look somewhat like the real Elsie and take advantage of her popularity.  This one was a souvenir from the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

Here are some more Elsie knock-offs…some with bells, some not; but all with a raised garland, and a bow on the tail, just like the original.  None of these have any identifying marks, but they’re almost assuredly made in Japan.

Here are yet two more examples, this time with creamers.  I don’t believe the ‘real’ standing Elsies ever had a companion sugar bowl, although the ‘head’ versions of Elsie were accompanied by Elmer as the sugar.  These are again without marks, although the ones on the right are red clay, like many other creamers made by Thames of Japan.

Switching now to a series of creamers from around the world (I suppose they could have been in the ‘Places theme just as easily…) – here to introduce this sub-theme are a bunch with the same pattern, but from all over…US, Japan, South Africa (the spotted one on the left – the only cow creamer we found in that country, and obviously an import), England…and even a paint-it yourself.

Lets start this section with the USA – in fact, a series of Native American interpretations, all from the Acoma potteries of New Mexico.  The Acoma Pueblo, some 80 miles west of Albuquerque and the oldest continuously inhabited community in North America, is now renowned for its pottery.  This beautiful example is signed by Jessie Garcia (Sun Clan, 1910-1990), and dates from 1950-60. She is one of the ‘matriarchs’ of Acoma pottery, master potters who were important in the revival and promotion of their art.

Four more from the Acoma Pueblo. The two in individual shots bear the initials “M.B.”, which the (knowledgeable) seller indicated is most likely for Mabel Brown, a tribal elder who was known for her cow pitchers. In the set of two, the larger white and black one is signed by A. Pasqual, and the little one by Rose Leno (presumably a relative of Juana Leno, another of the ‘matriarchs’).