Question:

Hi.   I have a question regarding the Anniversary Line of dinnerware, specifically Country Garden.   I’m not sure who else to ask this question of, and you are the only contact name I have that might be able to direct me.

My question is:   There are several different bowls: Cereal, Rim Soup, Sauce, Nappy and Buffet.    The Red Wing Dinnerware price and identification guide doesn’t indicate the size of each bowl.   If I see a bowl, how do I know which one I’m looking at?   Is there a size guide?

Answer:

I am not aware of any reference guide or book that includes bowl sizes for Red Wing dinnerware patterns. That’s useful information, and over the years I’ve developed my
own list.

There were seven different bowls made for the Anniversary patterns. Here are the approximate diameters of those bowls:

Salad bowls (textured colored sides with no artwork)
Large: 10.5″
Individual: 5.5″

Decorated bowls:
Buffet:11″
Nappy: 9.5″
Rim Soup: 8″
Cereal: 6.75″
Sauce: 5.5″

Another clue to help differentiate the bowls is the hand painted design inside the
bowl.  Larger bowls have more surface area and thus room for more art.  For example, the Country Garden buffet bowl includes more leaves and flowers than the smaller bowls. Larry

Question:

Good afternoon! My mother loves the Red Wing cookie jars and is missing only the Friar. I came upon a Friar at a local antiques market, but want to be sure that it’s real before purchasing it. Here is a photo of the stamp:

The stamp looks to be a deep green color, which concerns me, but the lady at the shop said that Red Wing used black, blue, and green ink for its markings.

Any assistance that you could give me would be much appreciated! My mom’s birthday is coming up and this fella would be
terrific… if he’s the real deal.

Hope you’re having a lovely weekend,

Katie

Answer:

I can’t be absolutely certain without a hands-on inspection, but I see no reason to suspect this cookie jar is a fake or reproduction.  The two Red Wing marks look to be
authentic.  These cookie jars have been reproduced but the ones I’ve seen are
clearly marked and are smaller in size than the originals.  Yellow is a common color for the friar jar and the common colors are relatively inexpensive.  I would look more suspiciously at a jar in a rare or unusual color.

Larry

Best regards,

Question:

The bowl I have looks like the Colonnes but has 2 columns.  Red Wing hand painted on the bottom and the number 317 and USA with only the A being all there.

Thank you.

Mary

Answer:

Five different sized bowls were made for the Colonnes dinnerware pattern.  The number of columns depicted depends on the size of the bowl.  The 5.5 inch sauce dish and the 6.5 inch cereal bowl had only one column.  The 7.5 inch rim soup bowl had two columns.  The 9 inch nappy (vegetable bowl) and 12 inch salad bowl each had three columns.  The larger the bowl, the greater the surface area available for artwork.

The number 317 on the bottom of the bowl is a stock or lot number.  It does not identify
the pattern or the item.

Larry

Question:

Hello!

I am wondering if you can tell me anything about this carafe in the blue/purple color with  the Red Wing Pottery Blue Star mark?

I have never known it to have a wooden handle and was wondering if you have any information in regard to this carafe? When was it made and did it originally have a handle? I cant find another one like it.

Kind regards,

Debbie

Answer:

Your blue 565 coffee server is from the Gypsy Trail line. All 565 Gypsy Trail coffee servers were sold with a wooden handle attached around the neck, although the cover was optional for a time.  Your server was made at the beginning of Gypsy Trail  roduction, or perhaps even earlier. This color scheme and the star ink stamp mark were vailable very briefly.

A brochure dated June 1935 marks the introduction of Gypsy Trail with 19 items available. All items are described as available in the standard Gypsy Trail colors – white, turquoise, blue, yellow and orange – except the 565 coffee server. Coffee server colors were blue, black, blue-green and orange. We have found this server with the star ink stamp mark in blue, blue-green and black but not in orange. Blue servers with this mark are a lighter shade than standard Gypsy Trail blue. Also, servers with the star  mark have “dry” (unglazed) bottoms and the interiors color matches the exterior. Standard 565 coffee servers have glazed bottoms marked only with “565” and they have white interiors. These early coffee servers are the only Gypsy Trail pieces we have found marked with the star ink stamp.

The black and blue-green colors were not included in subsequent Gypsy Trail brochures, thus after the initial brochure the coffee server was available in the same standard colors as other Gypsy Trail items. The non-standard aspects – unusual colors, dry bottom, ink stamp and colored interior – lead me to believe production of these coffee servers may have begun prior to the introduction of Gypsy Trail. Today these early servers are quite hard to find, but they do turn up occasionally. Value for a complete ink stamped blue coffee server is around $100 in excellent condition. Your server is missing the wooden handle which would reduce the value somewhat.  However it would be easy to “borrow” the handle from a more common 565 server to
make yours complete.

Larry