A new Roseville pottery collector who inherited a few pieces of brown Pine Cone asked for clarification on why some pieces are marked and others are unmarked. He was also concerned that the unmarked vases and those pieces with marks that did not include USA may be non-vintage or reproductions.
Pine Cone was probably the most popular pattern of Roseville from its introduction in 1935 throughout its years of production. As a result of this popularly and the resulting extended years of production, Pine Cone is one of the few Roseville patterns that was marked four different ways including:
- Foil labels were used in 1935. Typically these labels are missing leaving the piece unmarked. Some examples of Roseville Pine Cone from this time period were also marked with a hand written shape number in crayon.
- Die-impressed (incised) mark including Roseville (in script) and the shape number and size such as 632-6. The 632 is the shape number for a jardiniere and the 6 indicated that the inside diameter of the jardiniere is 6″. It is very important to note the mark used between 1936 and 1939 did not include USA. A very common misperception among new Roseville collectors is that pieces without the USA mark are reproductions.
- Starting in 1940, Pine Cone was marked with a raised and molded mark that included Roseville USA and the size and shape number. It is believed that in the early 1940s Roseville Pottery ended production of the Pine Cone pattern. The raised USA Pine Cone mark is probably the least common of the four variations.
- In 1953 Roseville Pottery reintroduced the Pine Cone pattern. These later Pine Cone pieces were marked with the raised Roseville USA script mark along with the shape number and size. Some of the Pine Cone Modern pieces are also marked with a die-impressed PINE CONE. Pine Cone Modern included 51 shapes according to the factory brochure. Each of the Pine Cone Modern shapes were assigned shape numbers in the 400s. Pine Cone Modern remained very popular until the Roseville factory was sold in 1954.
Greg Myroth – Just Art Pottery
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