As our readers know, we always love a great story that involves an unlikely find in an even more unlikely place.  This time, the find is a beautiful Newcomb Pottery vase found in at a Pennsylvania yard sale.  And the cost for this lovely Newcomb piece?  A single dollar.  That’s right – Joseph sent his story and the photos you see here and while we were more than a little impressed, once we read how much he paid for it, we knew he’d just made a very wise investment.

The Newcomb vase is marked with the “NC” mark and the initials “JM”, which we know was Joseph Meyer.  The pictures, as you can see, reveal a those traditional blues Newcomb Pottery is so well known for and the glossy glaze really allows the hues to shine through. 

As you may know, Newcomb Pottery began not so much as a business venture, but rather, an educational effort of introducing functional, yet visually pleasing, art pottery to a society that appreciated the beauty in all things art related, but that also needed a way to acquire it in an affordable manner.  Enter the Newcomb College Pottery experiment that began in an unused building on the New Orleans campus of Tulane University.

Another interesting fact about Newcomb Pottery is that in the beginning, all of the artists were women born in the south.  During this time at the turn of the century, it’s likely these women would have led “cookie cutter” lives; instead, they were afforded the opportunity to allow their artistic abilities to shine through.  The result was a self-supported academic program that financially carried itself as the pottery was sold to the public and the money then reinvested back into the program.

What we’re left with today are those incredible finds, such as the one Joseph found, that symbolize the loving care and artist’s patience that each Newcomb Pottery piece reveals.

**Note:  We received a correction from a loyal reader on those early Newcomb Pottery days:

The Newcomb College Pottery was launched c.1894 in the art department of the college–not in an unused building at Tulane U., which was several miles away. As the enterprise grew, the college built a handsome building to house the pottery studios and sales showroom. It was not until c.1920 that Newcomb College move to its uptown campus adjacent to Tulane.

Thanks for the correction and keep those comments coming!