Ambrico Specials Dept Teapot

Hi all, I need some help from your expert eyes.

Is this Crown Lynn?

My thoughts upon seeing it were Yes, the glaze was what helped draw my eye, but for the life of me I couldn't find the shape anywhere here so I ended up having to take a punt at auction.



oh and I picked up this little beauty too:

Hi Uno, I don't think that I've seen that teapot shape before. Hopefully someone else has. I don't have the experience with elephants to know who made your one. Manos is the one to ask these things. Cheers Ev

Thanks Ev, yeah I scoured these pages for anything remotely similar to no avail but I just couldn't walk away from it. My gut said buy it.

Here's some other angles and better colouring for any passers by who may have some input"

I think the pot looks very much like C/L Ambrico.

I don't think the teapot is Crown Lynn, doesn't look very Crown Lynn like to me.

Yes it screams ambrico to me, the colouring/glaze is nigh on identical to the Elephant and a Small Swan I have which is why I'm still hedging my bets on it being an early shape not yet identified here.

I saw this teapot at the Retro Fair today along with a small 709 Toby Jug in the same glaze. The clay was like the old yellow Ambrico clay and because the little jug was in the exact same glaze I have to change my tune and say it is probably old Ambrico. There were no marks or stamps on the base.

I thought I recognised this.
Same glaze too.
Along with what could be the 709.
(Maybe the same ones Ev saw!)

Gail Lambert (first edition), colour plate, opposite page 119.
"Late 1940s."
"Employee's provenance ... Private collection"

Score. I like.

Yes that's the same as the ones that I saw at the Retro Fair and I meant to go back and get the gorgeous little jug, but I got side tracked with the possible Beach stuff and didn't remember until I got home.
You did well Uno

Yay, thanks guys am happy with a general consensus from the group *nods*

Did anyone happen to pick up the teapot you saw or was it not for sale?

I wonder what shape it is then? Oooh I'm a little excited :-)

Yes I picked up the teapot uno and the base was the same as yours.... no marks and no numbers, just the footring clear of glaze. The teapot was $45.

Fantastic news thankyou Eve :-)

The Portage Ceramic Trust have the same teapot on their site, with a gem of information that says John Perry says that this is part of a breakfast set ...

http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3384/object/488513/Tea_pot_and_lid

I've seen the sweet little jug, which is slip cast not hand thrown as they suggest ..

http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3384/object/488524/Jug

and here is the sugar bowl that I haven't seen before that is part of the set ...

http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3384/object/488546/Sugar_bowl

Ev thankyou. You're commitment to this site and the CL story is much appreciated. It really is nice to have this forum to share our finds and knowledge.

I tried to sell one of those little brown Jugs...no one wanted it so I still have it.
Uno I will keep an eye out for one that matches your teapot,  they are only 6.5cmh which is quite small, how big is the Teapot?
The straw one on left is a bit smaller than the brown.

Kat all of the measurements are in those Portage links. The little jug at the Retro Fair was the same glaze as Uno's as was the teapot. The jug was $15. The Portage call that yukky brown a colour glaze. Do you see it as that?

Sorry those measurements confused me, too muggy/hot today!
1.= teapot 2.= lid....yes it is an even colour all over.

Thanks Kat, would appreciate that.

It's not a huge teapot, it's now wrapped and stored in the garage but I'd guess 4 tea cups, so by todays standard it might make a mug or two :-)

I've finally found myself a decent $4 teapot. Needs cleaning, otherwise perfect.*
* (Later) Okay, now that I contemplate cleaning it I see a hairline on the lid. C'est la vie.

I kicked myself when Jim bought the 830 teapot at Hospice a couple years ago as I was farting about with the Beach one next to it and didn't recognise the CL number. When I saw Jim at Hospice shop today he said he would leave the Sallies to me ... and look what I found!

To be honest without the iPad I wasn't totally sure, and as the glaze did not look familiar, and it was a whole $4, I walked away and got some lunch. When I got home I checked this topic and knew then that my lunch was at risk of getting cold as I rushed back down town. Whew!

9.5cm H x 13 OD at widest, Ambrico straw clay, unmarked for maker

The glaze appears to be a match for the Portage one.

I see now why this has been described as a "small" teapot.
I think it is also Crown Lynn's most beautiful one.

Note. That extra little white square on the body in the main pic is a bit of detritus I missed when editing my photos: it is nothing to do with the teapot.
.

Now that's an absolute score Jeremy!!
How lucky were you that it was still there when you went back.
How many lucky stars do you have?
A lot cheaper than the $45 one that I saw at the Retro Fair

Ev, I still think $45 is cheap for one of these but who knows. I can't remember a final price for one on tm, but I think I remember one (was it a set?) starting at some hundreds. I'd probably have paid the 45 for the Retro Fair one if I'd seen the price and hadn't been in a rush. I do prefer uno's glaze, but very happy to have one in any glaze.

And yes, I was lucky three times over today. Four times if you count my lunch still being warm. Most days I walk away from the opshops empty-handed or with the odd random mug or three, but small as our town is we all (Kat, Jim, Val, Brooke, Miriam, Carole, et al) seem to find good deals now and then.

Today I spent $5 on a maybe Beach vase (50c), random mug (50c) and this.

---------
28/9/16
A reply to Kat's reply below. First stop opshopping in Auckland today I found a little brown jug. Auckland opshops seemed very expensive today. As much as $5 for a handpotted mug. I was just about to walk out when I saw the jug. $6 was bearable as I have the teapot. It cheered me on to the next shop. Also found a Peter Collis mug and Peter Lange mug further on, each $2. I need a brown sugar bowl now.

I'll photograph the teapot and jug together when I get home.
.

Brilliant Jeremy!!! I am home all day at my computer. Sigh. That shiny brown glaze on your teapot looks the same as you see on the little early jugs. It much have been one of their first that was good enough to use all over, ie not with the trickle effect.

Great find! Jim now has the matching jug above.

Just had a lovely pottery morning out & couple of hours ago I said to Miriam & Jeremy "no.. I don't need to go shops I will just go supermarket but of course right next to the supermarket there is an Op shop aye!!

.. the matching sugar bowl 5cmh x 9 cmd not sure if I would have known what it was if it wasnt this old Ambrico glaze.  
Do we have a shape number ?
http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3384/object/488546/Sugar_bowl

Clever Kat has found the jug and bowl to match my Ambrico teapot.


There are still bargains to be had at opshops: $1 apiece for jug and bowl brings the total outlay here to $6. (I had already spent $6 on a jug but the $1 is in better condition!)

Please excuse the wiggly edges on the bowl. I did a quick clearcut to complete rthe black bacground and missed the line here and there.