California Pottery Collecting

A visit to any antique mall in the United States is certain to include a sighting of a few pieces, or perhaps a full table setting of the well-known and well-loved Franciscan Desert Rose dinnerware. The largest-selling pattern in the history of American dinnerware, Franciscan Desert Rose has enjoyed the world's longest period of popularity of any dinnerware pattern produced by a single company, Gladding McBean.

Gladding McBean was a historic California company, founded in 1875. The white clay deposits in Lincoln, CA, gave rise to terra-cotta pipes, tiles, and building fronts, essential to the development of major California cities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.  Known for their design and manufacturing expertise, old-world craftsmen were brought in from Italy.  Acquisitions and new-world industrial ingenuity helped Gladding McBean flourish for nearly 50 years before the Great Depression ground the great American expansion to a halt. 

As we all know, necessity is the mother of all invention, and faced with the expense of multiple factories and little sales, Gladding McBean was pushed to diversify. After two years of experimental dinnerware production, a fledgling division known now as Franciscan Ware was founded.  Attractive but not cost-prohibitive pottery made the tough years a little less dreary. No one could have predicted the popularity and success to come over the next 50 years thanks to dinnerware and art ware production.

Countless designers, potters, and creative promotional campaigns created the emergence of a new category of design, known collectively as California Pottery. Acquiring a “nice” set of dinnerware was seen as a step-up into the middle class, and abundant production made it possible for average families to invest in “good dishes”. Pottery companies popped up all over California.  In addition to Gladding McBean, Bauer, Pacific, Metlox, Vernon Kilns, and others, were making solid-colored dinnerware as early as 1935. Gladding McBean created the breakout, hand-painted, embossed, Desert Rose pattern in 1941. Other popular hand-painted Franciscan Ware patterns include Ivy and Apple. 

World War II halted most dinnerware production, however, the post-war years saw a rebound in design and production. A huge variety of patterns have been produced and if you don’t like flowers or country apples, you don’t need to look far to find something to collect that suits your taste. The elliptical patterns with Mid-Century decal design elements, Franciscan Starburst, and Oasis remain popular patterns today. Once a pattern has become popular with collectors it isn’t unusual to see resale prices soar. Perhaps you have some valuable California Pottery stashed in a box in the garage along with treasured heirlooms long forgotten.

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