Question:

I found these two items while cleaning out my aunt’s home. I believe they are both Red Wing and wonder about their worth.

Answer:

The photos show a green Fondoso casserole and green Gypsy Trail Plain coffee server.   The casserole should be bottom marked “Red Wing Potteries Inc” and “Design Pat. Pending”.  The coffee server should have the numbers 565 on the bottom.

The casserole is worth $30 to $40.  The coffee server is a very common piece but scarce in the green color.  It’s worth $25 to $35.  All values assume excellent, undamaged condition.

Larry

Question:

Dear Experts,

I have inherited my mothers peach wedding dishes from the late 1940’s and have been told they were made by the Red Wing Pottery company.

I am contacting you for information about the set and current values of the pieces. I have a total of 101 pieces (including lids) and all are in excellent condition with no cracks or chips and only a few minor scuffs on a few of the dinner plates.

I have:

-11 large dinner plates 10 3/4″

-10 medium plates 8″

-8 small plates 6 1/4″

-8 covered soup bowls 5 3/4″  (16 total pieces)

-10 cereal bowls 5 3/4″

-8 comma shaped bowls 5″ x 6 1/4″

-12 cups 2 3/4″ high 3 1/4″ diameter

-12 saucers 6 1/4 ”

-I small serving bowl 7″

-1 pitcher 8″ total height with handle

-1 sugar bowl with lid

-I creamer

-8 spoon rests

-1 salt and pepper set

Most of the pieces appear to be a little tilted with one side higher than the other-is this normal? I would appreciate any information you can give me.

Thank you,

Chuck

Answer:

Your peach-colored dishes were indeed made by Red Wing Potteries.  Town and Country dinnerware was created by celebrated designer Eva Zeisel, and it the only design she produced for Red Wing. This pattern is known for its tilted plates and bowls, for rounded shapes that easily fit in the hand, and for its Shmoo salt & pepper shakers. Town and Country was introduced in 1947 and was initially available in seven colors that could be mixed and matched by the consumer: White, Dusk Blue, Sand, Metallic Brown, Chartreuse, Peach and Rust. By 1949 White, Peach and Sand had been discontinued and replaced by Forest Green and Gray.  The pattern was discontinued in 1956.   It’s unusual to find such a large collection of Town & Country all in a single color.  Apparently most homemakers preferred to mix and match colors.

Town and Country pieces were not marked with the company name and for years were not recognized by most people as Red Wing pottery. But interest in Eva Zeisel and her work escalated rapidly in the 1990s, as did interest in and values for Town and Country dinnerware.   Values peaked in the 2000s.  As with many antiques and collectibles, values dropped during the recession and haven’t yet fully recovered.

The values below are estimated values for a single piece (or base with cover) in excellent condition.  Any damage or discoloration will reduce the value.  White pieces are very scarce and values are significantly higher for them.  Metallic Brown also seems to command a higher price than other colors.

Dinner plate 10 3/4″:  $15-25

Salad plate 8″:  $10-15

Bread & Butter plate 6 1/4″: $10-15

Marmite (covered soup bowl) 5 3/4″: $20-25

Salad or Cereal bowl 5 3/4″:  $20-25

Sauce or Relish dish (comma shaped bowl) 5″ x 6 1/4″:  $10-15

Tea cup 2 3/4″ high 3 1/4″ diameter:  $10-15

Saucer 6 1/4″:  $10-15

Soup bowl (small serving bowl) 7″:  $25-30

Pitcher 3 pint (8″ total height with handle):  $60-75

Sugar bowl with lid:  $20-25

Creamer: $20-25

Coaster (spoon rest):  $20-25

Salt and pepper set:  $60-75

Larry

Question:

Hi there-

I have 5 glazed egg cups that are marked Red Wing USA, June Johnson. 4 are dated ’57, the try is dated ’58.
Can you tell me about these and their value please?

Thank you,
Jeanie

Answer:

These egg cups are not part of any Red Wing dinnerware line and thus I don’t know a lot about them.  To my knowledge they were not shown in any Red Wing brochure or sales literature.  One theory says they were made for a custom order from the Old Mill restaurant.  Red Wing is known to have made an ashtray for the Old Mill, which was located in Austin, MN.

While I don’t know a lot about egg cups, I can state with confidence that these egg cups were not made by Red Wing Potteries despite the RED WING USA markings.  When Red Wing Potteries closed in 1967, the company’s molds were sold to the public with no attempt to obliterate the RED WING markings in the molds. Many of these molds went to art schools and hobby shop potters.  Non-Red Wing items formed by genuine Red Wing molds turn up fairly often but usually they are quite easy to tell from the authentic Red Wing product.  Colors and decoration are not the same. Weight is another consideration; amateur pieces are usually heavier or lighter than the original item due to the clay used to make the piece.  Amateur potters and art school students usually mark the piece with their name or initials and the year of production scratched into the wet clay.

These egg cups display several of these non-Red Wing characteristics.  The inside and bottom of the authentic Red Wing egg cups that I’ve seen are glazed the same color as the exterior; these egg cups have white interiors and bottoms.  The pink color resembles an authentic Red Wing glaze but the brown glaze does not.  The brown glaze slops over the rim and slightly into the interior.  Red Wing artists weren’t perfect but they would not produce such an imprecisely colored rim.  Finally, the name and number scratched into the clay does not fit the profile of an authentic Red Wing lunch hour piece.  The makers of lunch hour pieces used the factory’s colored glazes to mark their items.  Names and numbers scratched into the clay are essentially a dead giveaway that the item was made in an art class or by a hobby shop potter with an old Red Wing mold.

As for value, I’m sorry to say that hobby shop pieces like these have minimal value. They don’t hold much interest for collectors, though someone may be willing to pay a few dollars to add such an oddity to add to their collection.

Larry R

Question:

Thank you for your time and expertise. I am in possession of the 3 test plates for the Spruce pattern dinnerware. I realize some test plates are of great value and wonder what these may be worth? The center plate has a very small chip. I have sent 2 photos of the chip as well.

Thank you,

Victoria

Answer:

These plates have handwritten codes on the bottom, which was standard practice for Red Wing test plates.  The artwork and base color of these plates leaves no doubt they were made as test or sample pieces for the Spruce pattern.

It’s difficult to place a value on a one-of-a-kind item like a test plate. Based on prices realized at auction for test plates for other Red Wing patterns in recent years, I’d place the value at $400 to $600 per plate.  The small chip on one of the plates would reduce the value to the low end of that range.

Larry

Question:

I was wondering about these serving pieces and bowls that were with my parents’ Pepe dinnerware set.

Are they Redwing, do they have a name, and what would their values be?

The small bowls are 5″ in diameter, the big bowls are 8 1/4″ in diameter.

The big bowls have a faint circular pattern around the 1″ rim.

The oval serving dishes are 6 1/2″ long by 4″ wide, 8″ by 4 3/4″ and 9 1/4″ by 5 1/2″.  The medium and large size bowls do have the Redwing stamp on the back.  They each have a fluted “wing” rim at each end.

The big oval plate is 11 1/2″ by 9 1/4″.  It has a fluted pattern all around the rim.

The long {cracker ? pickle ?} boat is 15 1/2″ by 2 3/4″.

The plain free-form-shaped plate is roughly 10″ in diameter.

If you could pass these questions on to the experts, that would be wonderful.

Thank you, and best holiday wishes to you and yours!

With appreciation,

Sue

Answer:

All of the items shown in the photos were made by Red Wing.

The three oval bowls with fluted rims are Bakers from the Hotel or Restaurant line.  Bakers were available in three sizes in either beige fleck or white.  These bakers appear to be white.

All of the other items in the photos were glazed after production ceased at Red Wing Potteries.  A fair amount of greenware (unfired pottery) remained in the plant after workers left in mid 1967.  The remaining staff applied whatever glazes were on hand to the greenware.  Beige fleck, the background color for Bob White and other patterns, is the glaze most commonly found on these end-of-production items.  These beige fleck pieces were sold to the public in the Red Wing Pottery Salesroom.

The 8 1/4″ large bowl is from the Village Green line.

The 5″ small bowl is from the Like China line.

The long 16″ dish is a celery dish from the True China line.

The 10″ dinner plate is from the True China line.

The photos I received do not include a large oval platter, but the “fluted rim” in your description leads me to believe it is likely from the Hotel or Restaurant line.

Most of these pieces have a value of $10-15 if they are in excellent condition.  The celery dish and the platter are worth $15-20.

Larry

Question:

Hello,

I have a red wing sign. I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about it and it’s value. Thanks for your time

Jeremy

Answer:

The item in the photo promoted Red Wing’s True China dinnerware line.  It was intended to be placed in the window or display case of a retail business that sold True China.  The first True China patterns were introduced in 1959.  Some patterns continued to be made until pottery production ceased in 1967.

True China signs were made in a variety of colors including blue, tan, white and beige fleck.  These signs are hard to find today and are popular with collectors.  Value for a True China sign in excellent undamaged condition is $100-125.

Larry

Question:

Hello,

I am trying to determine if the dinnerware I have is from Redwing.  They are solid color (green and brown) and unmarked, however as you can see from the attached side by side pictures they have the same profile as Redwing concord shape (the shape is what leads me to wonder if they are Redwing).  Can you tell me if they are Redwing and If so what is the name of the color and their value. Please note, I am sending two emails because all of the pictures will not fit in a single email

I have:

12 dinner plates (green)

11 dessert plates (brown)

8 saucers (green)

2 platters (brown)

1 serving bowl (green)

1 gravy boat (brown)

Thanks in advance, Rich

Answer:

Yes, the solid colored pieces were made by Red Wing.  The name of the pattern is Quartette and the shape is Concord, which makes it a sister pattern to the Lotus pieces shown in your photos.

All Quartette pieces were available in four solid colors:  Copper Glow, Ming Green, Chartreuse and Mulberry.  Quartette was introduced in 1951, the same year as the Zinnia and Iris patterns.  Those two patterns share colors with Quartette.  Zinnia accessories were available in Copper Glow or Ming Green while Iris accessories were made in Chartreuse or Mulberry.

Values are similar to most other Concord patterns.  These values assume excellent condition.

Dinner plate:  $15-20

Dessert plate: $5-10

Saucer: $5-10

Platter:  $20-25

Serving bowl: $20-25

Gravy boat: $20-25

Larry

Question:

hello-

I have three pieces of Redwing Pottery. The green/brown dish and the pitcher are in perfect condition. The bowl has big along the top. I am interested in the value of these pieces and also where to go to sell them to a collector as I would like someone who has other pieces and would know that they would be appreciated. They were my grandmothers. We had family in Minnesota and she collected them when they would drive up from Milwaukee.

thank you,

Sincerely,

Karen

Answer:

Values for the following items assume excellent, undamaged condition.  Chips, flakes, cracks, hairlines, glaze flaws, etc will reduce these values significantly.

Northern Lights 12″ salad bowl:  $50-60

Village Green divided vegetable dish:  $20-25

Frontenac 2 quart pitcher:  $60-75

Larry

Previous Questions:

Bowl – Northern Lights
This pattern was actually used on Everybody Loves Raymond in his parents kitchen. This one I don’t have a previous question for; so, I will need to check with Larry on value. Here is a link to other questions to read more about the pattern:
https://www.redwingcollectors.org/18482/ask_the_experts/dinnerware/northern-lights-pattern

Village Green divided veggie
This pattern was popular for Red Wing and was also reproduced by other potteries as well. Since you have the connection I am sure that your is marked. Here is a link to a previous question:
https://www.redwingcollectors.org/23635/ask_the_experts/artware/red-wing-1602-compote-village-green-divided-veggie

Pitcher – Frontenac
Like Northern Lights I don’t have a value for the pitcher; but, I can provide you a link to learn more about the pattern.
https://www.redwingcollectors.org/18446/ask_the_experts/dinnerware/frontenac-plate-cups-saucers-creamer-sugar-bowl-salt-and-pepper-serving-bowl

Question:

I have not seen any pricing for covered butter dishes, the coffeepot with lid, nor the teapot with lid.  Both of the latter are in excellent condition. 1 butter dish has a grayish 3/4″ swath on one side of the lid (production error?) and the other has a hairline crack in the lid.
What might the value of these be?

Also a question regarding condition:  if the serving pieces have little cracks in them, do they still have any value? I have the 2.5qt covered casserole with a 3/8″ long crack on the interior lip.   Additionally, it has what I would call “pinprick” discolorations on the inner rim (7) and the underside of the lid (7).  These appear to be places where the glaze didn’t take, which allowed brownish discoloration to occur.  This is also true of the covered bean pot casserole I have. It has 4 pinprick discolorations on the underside of the lid and 7 around the inner rim.  It also has a 1/16″ inch chip on the inner lid.  How much will these impact the value?

I also have a covered gravy boat with attached plate that has a production flaw crack in the lid.  It is a 3/4″ crack that extends from the spoon cutout to the underside of the lid. It is glazed over, so I assume a production flaw. It is not visible from the outside.  How much would this piece be worth?

I wondered if the price range of  $7-15 apiece for the dinner, salad and bread plates is still accurate.
I also have one serving plate (10″) with a metal handle, and another two-tiered plate (7 1/2″ and 6″) with metal joiner and handle.  I understand that these were novelty pieces and not really part of the dinnerware line.  Are they worth anything?
14 beige fleck small bowls (5″) to use with the Pepe dinnerware. I assume they are not worth much, but I thought I’d ask.
Sincerely,
Sue

Answer:

As usual, all values assume excellent, undamaged condition unless otherwise noted.  Chips, flakes, cracks, hairlines and glaze flaws will reduce the value significantly, generally by 25 to 75% or more.  The degree of the reduction depends on the visibility and location of the damage as well as the scarcity of the item. A small chip on a common item will reduces the value to almost nothing, while the same damage on a rare piece will have little effect on the value.  It’s impossible to accurately place a value on a damaged piece without viewing it.  Even then, what is minor damage in one collector’s eyes can be major damage in another’s.  Damage assessment is very subjective.

Many of these items are described as having factory flaws.  These flaws will reduce the value as compared to the same item with no flaws.  Most likely these pieces were purchased at the Red Wing Pottery Salesroom as that is where Red Wing sold their “seconds” and surplus stock.

Butter dish with cover:  $30-40 (Glaze flaw and crack reduce the value by at least 50%)

Beverage server with cover (coffee pot):  $50-75

Teapot with cover:  $150-200

All of these pieces have value, but the damage described on them will reduce the value significantly as compared to the same item in excellent condition.  The Pepe casserole is fairly scarce so the hairline would decrease the value by maybe 25%.   Discolorations will reduce values by 50% or more depending on their visibility. The Pepe bean pot with both discoloration and a chip might be worth 75% less than a mint bean pot.

A mint Pepe gravy boat with cover is worth $35-50.  The production flaw as described would reduce the value by around 25%.

Pepe plates are not difficult to find so values haven’t changed much.  An increase of a dollar or two for each end of the range would be appropriate.

The handled and tiered plates are known as tidbit trays.  Tidbit trays were not an official part of any Red Wing dinnerware pattern.  While tidbits are not shown in brochures for dinnerware patterns, they were included in Red Wing gift and novelty brochures.  However, the buyer could not specify a pattern when ordering a tidbit.  That’s because Red Wing used surplus stock to make tidbits, thus would be sent tidbits made from whatever pattern happened to be in oversupply at the time.  Values for Pepe tidbits would be $10-30.

The identity of these bowls is not clear.  They could be bowls in the Casual shape with no decoration that were made for gift and novelty sales.  Or they could be bowls from any pattern that were glazed with beige fleck after the Potteries closed.  Hard to place a value without more detail, but they are probably worth at least $5 each if they are in excellent condition.

Larry

Question:

Hello,

I am trying to determine if the dinnerware I have is from Redwing.  They are solid color (green and brown) and unmarked, however as you can see from the attached side by side pictures they have the same profile as Redwing concord shape (the shape is what leads me to wonder if they are Redwing).  Can you tell me if they are Redwing and If so what is the name of the color and their value. Please note, I am sending two emails because all of the pictures will not fit in a single email

I have:

12 dinner plates (green)
11 dessert plates (brown)
8 saucers (green)
2 platters (brown)
1 serving bowl (green)
1 gravy boat (brown)

Thanks in advance, Richard

Answer:

Yes, the solid colored pieces were made by Red Wing.  The name of the pattern is Quartette and the shape is Concord, which makes it a sister pattern to the Lotus pieces shown in your photos.

All Quartette pieces were available in four solid colors:  Copper Glow, Ming Green, Chartreuse and Mulberry.  Quartette was introduced in 1951, the same year as the Zinnia and Iris patterns.  Those two patterns share colors with Quartette.  Zinnia accessories were available in Copper Glow or Ming Green while Iris accessories were made in Chartreuse or Mulberry.

Values are similar to most other Concord patterns.  These values assume excellent condition.

Dinner plate:  $15-20
Dessert plate: $5-10
Saucer: $5-10
Platter:  $20-25
Serving bowl: $20-25
Gravy boat: $20-25

Larry