What a beautiful plate that summons the autumn season sporting bright colors that are equated to delicious earth tone hues. This 20th century plate, signed and dated (October in the year of “1980”), is attributed to Lester Breininger of Robesonia, Pennsylvania who has passed away but leaves behind a legacy created in his glorious pottery pieces that are cherished and sought after.
This intriguing piece of redware boasts a coggled edge and is decorated with wavy trails of green slip against a rich, burnt orange ground. The design is simple yet very effective especially given the accent color of green that is not typically used as compared to the yellow slip which is more commonly found.
As a side note, when I first started to collect redware I had the misconception that only old pieces were valuable and should be purchased but found this is not the case. Many collectors incorporate contemporary pieces sprinkled about early collections and it definitely works especially when displayed in a cupboard as shown in image 10! I think the reason for this is because we can all appreciate a potters work from different era’s because after all it is about the art-form that we interpret from artists that makes us willingly open our pocketbooks.
With that said Lester Breininger of German descent, was a very well-known potter that started his business in the 1970’s in keeping to tradition to recreate the same kind of pottery popular in the Eastern Pennsylvania region during the 1700’s and early 1800’s. Lester even used authentic 18th and early 19th century molds and feels the word “reproduction” should not be associated with his work as a folk artist but rather refers to his creations as “interpretations”. It all started with a piece he purchased at a tag sale and wanted to acquire another one but could not afford it so he decided to try his hand at duplicating this piece on a potter’s wheel instead. The results were terrific and a new business was born. He left his high school teaching job and worked at being a potter full time and even converted a room in their Victorian home to be used as a showroom. The annual sales he held each year that were later moved out of the house to their 100 foot wrap around porch were widely popular and very successful! He was born in 1935 and passed away in 2011.
This plate is of the smaller variety and will fit anywhere without any space constraint issues. There is only one small chip to report located on the back as shown in image 8. A couple small areas of glaze have minor impact and gently cascade over the unglazed bottom edge as shown in image 9. This plate is in very good overall condition without or cracks to report.
What a wonderful piece of pottery being offered that will not only enhance your existing collections but can also be a starter piece. It shows very well, has interesting history equated to its birth and will add brilliant color to any cupboard. This plate can also be hung on the wall as a wire wall hanger (gold color) is included with this purchase. Enjoy!
Plate measures 7” across (right to left) and stands 1 ¼” tall.
~Freight (Standard Mail) included, however Insurance is optional and can be purchased @ checkout ~ within the continental U.S.
