Laguna Vintage Pottery Interview

Hi Lovelies!  Malia here... I'm back with more from Laguna Vintage Pottery. 

If you're like me, you enjoy going antiquing, flea marketing and thrifting.  You just never know what treasures you could discover.  I am always on the lookout for Jadite.  One time I lucked into a whole box of mugs, saucers and plates for about twenty dollars. Happy Day!  So you can imagine how thrilled I was to visit with Michael Lindsey of Laguna Vintage Pottery in Seattle.

Michael Lindsey, Laguna Vintage Pottery 

Laguna Vintage Pottery is one of the largest vintage pottery shops in the USA, specializing in discontinued and collectible American dinnerware and art pottery. They carry Homer Laughlin (Fiesta), Franciscan, Vernon Kilns, Heath, Roseville, Rookwood, Bauer and Weller as well as industrial designers Russel Wright, Eva Zeisel, Heath and Ben Seibel.

I got to interview owner Michael Lindsey and find out:

What's hot right now in American Vintage Pottery?

What's still affordable enough to start collecting? 

How can we take care of our collections?

Franciscan Starburst

How did you begin selling American Vintage Pottery?

I got started in this business by collecting Starburst, which is still a really popular pattern.  When I first began doing this almost twenty five years ago, I started hitting thrift stores and was picking up Starburst all over. I started trading, building my collection-- then I had a small space in an antique mall and eventually had a store front.  It's been over twenty-five years now.

Is there a "typical" customer?

It's a wide variety-- anywhere from ages twenty to sixty.  I help people that are buying dinnerware pieces to replace things in their sets, people that are collecting funky stuff (they tend to be the younger generation) and people in their forties, fifties and sixties who collect more traditional art pieces.

Rookwood

Can you share with us what are the most expensive and least expensive pieces in the store?

The most expensive piece in the store is an artist signed piece of Rookwood from Cincinnati, Ohio. Rookwood pieces are always marked "Rookwood" and under that, there's a roman numeral with the year it was produced and then off to the side, there's a dark mark by the artist.  This piece is $4,500.

Vernon Kilns Organdie 

The least expensive is a brown plaid teacup from the 1940's by Vernon Kilns. The price is $2.00.

What's in demand right now?

 Starburst by Franciscan

Desert Rose by Franciscan

Mid Century (1940's-1950's) pieces by Eva Ziesel 

 Mid Century (1940's-1950's) pieces by Russel Wright

Also very popular... old standbys like Fiesta, Roseville, Bauer and Jadite

Fiesta 

 Roseville

 Jadite by Fire King

And very popular-- Heath Ceramics Vintage pieces.  They are great items to hunt for at garage sales and thrift stores.  Many people had these dinnerware sets in their households so they do turn up.  

What are some characteristics of Heath that we can keep an eye out for?

Heath Ceramics Vintage Pieces

Look for the duo tone.  There's the brownish color on the outside and either yellow. orange or turquoise in the interior.  There are some sets of solid colors but the duo colored pieces are more in demand.

Can you give us some tips on taking care of our vintage pottery pieces?

Michael's Tips:

• Most pottery can be washed with soap and water
• Dishwashers are ok for dinnerware unless it has a decal, gold or platinum on it... don't put those through!
• Make sure your pieces aren't banging into each other-- the most important thing you can do is protect your pieces from damage
• When using mixing bowls, don't bang your spoon on the side and don't use your pieces as a cutting or chopping board.  It will scratch them.

Franciscan Contours Fine China

What are you looking for right now?

Franciscan Contours Fine China.  I also buy Starburst and a lot of Heath Ceramics dinnerware.  Heath refers customers to me!

Wow, thank you for taking the time to chat with us, Michael.  And thanks for giving Vintage Indie Readers a special discount on your Laguna Vintage Pottery website and in store.  Just use the code vintageindie or mention Vintage Indie in the shop to get an 10% discount. 

Info for Laguna Vintage Pottery

Website:  www.lagunapottery.com

Address:  116 South Washington Street, Seattle WA 98104

Email:  info@lagunapottery.com

Phone:  206-682-6162

Fax:  206-405-3561