Unusual Finds
I've got an odd pot to add to the gallery today. I was told this unusual lidded pot was made by the Gorbutt-Bowman pottery that operated in Topeka, Kansas, reportedly between 1950 and 1953. It has a metallic brown glaze that reminds me of Red Wing's metallic brown glaze for Town & Country. It's 6 1/2 inches long, 4 1/2 inches wide and 4 1/2 inches tall. The pot is unmarked on the bottom but has initials of J. D. G. in a gold glaze on the front. According to the seller, this piece was located in several boxes of Gorbutt-Bowman pottery, some of which was marked Gorbutt-Bowman and some not. According to the seller, the "J. D. G." decoration represents the initials of John D. Gorbutt, Jr., the main founder of the pottery. John D. Gorbutt, Jr. was also a painter and sculptor. I'm not sure it's possible to confirm that the information about the initials is accurate. The seller represented this piece as a humidor. What do you think?
I bought this a couple of years ago solely because of the Gorbutt-Bowman attribution -- I'm intrigued by the smaller regional potteries that produced mid-century-modern work. After buying it, I put it away and basically forgot about it but it seemed like a good time to bring it out again. This was a difficult piece to photograph for me -- please excuse the poor lighting.
WOW!!!!
I think it's an incredible piece. It has an organic feel and I'll bet it is a tobacco humidor (does it smell like tobacco inside?). I've been trying to track down more information about Gorbutt and have had some minor successes. Your info about painter seems to fit with what I know. Did you buy anything else in those Gorbutt-Bowman boxes?
What I know is that a print by a John Gorbutt of Topeka, Kansas came up for bid a couple months ago or so and I corresponded with the seller. He found out from the buyer that John Gorbutt was the same person as owned the pottery and Bowman was his son-in-law. Beyond that, I haven't had much time to pursue this information further
Humidor!
I have this piece in a gunmetal glaze (similar to the glaze used on Zeisel's Town & Country dinnerware). It does not have the metal "lock." I have always wondered about the openings in the lip and the flat handle on the lid that is so hard to grab. I have been using it as a very awkward piggy bank. Now, the function of this piece makes absolute sense to me.
And, yes, it's Gorbutt-Bowman. Just like you, I got my piece in a huge set that I bought on ebay. The glaze matches the rest of the marked pieces perfectly, and the shape is a dead give-away. So, there is no doubt in my mind that it's GB.
Gorbutt-Bowman really made some of the most wild mid-century dinnerware out there. It's truly amazing.
GB Humidor
Wow - it's exciting to learn that Scott has one of these also! Does it also have the JDG initials on it?
The interior of the pot is very clean and there's no detectible tobacco smell. Unfortunately I never saw the other G-B pottery pieces that this humidor came with. An attempted follow-up with the seller about the other items was unsuccessful.
The only other Gorbutt-Bowman piece I have is a sugar bowl in a blue glaze. I'll post a photo of it shortly.
No Initials
No, my humidor does not have the initials. I think your humidor is one-of-a-kind.
I posted a photo of my gunmetal humidor along with 3 tumblers in the photo gallery. The tumblers have a quarter-circle base to allow them to nest together in a smaller area.
I have a bunch of GB dinnerware packed away (from a lucky ebay score). I'll get it out in the near future and send post some photos.