Art Pottery- Rumrill.pub - Red Wing Collectors Society

Rumrill made art pottery under many names
By Ray Reiss
Published in the Red Wing Republican Eagle on 14 June 2007
Ray Reiss is the author of Red Wing Art Pottery: Including Pottery Made For RumRill, Red Wing Art Pottery Two and Red Wing Dinnerware Price & Identification Guide. Ray has been a commercial photographer
nearly all his life, and he recently opened a Bed &
Breakfast in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood.
I started collecting Red Wing art pottery in the mid-70s
while living in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The variety of interesting shapes, designs and glazes initially caught
my eye; the undervalued prices sealed the deal. In
particular, the pottery marked RumRill that looked just
like Red Wing sparked my interest.
During the Great Depression, Red Wind Union Stoneware began losing money for the first time in its history. Primarily a stoneware company that sold utilitarian crocks and jugs, the company began to include
colorfully glazed artware with their merchandise—
mainly flower vases, figurines and bowls. They
changed their name to Red Wing Potteries in 1936.
Neo-Classic Group: front left, #672-–3” x 10” bowl in Seafoam-Ivory, Nile Green
Lined ($300); #673-3 1/4” candleholder in Nile Green ($40-60); rear left, #663-8
1/4” vase in Nile Green ($250); and #664-9 1/8” vase in Eggshell—Ivory, SemiMatt ($250)
In August of 1932, Red Wing entered into a marketing arrangement with George Rumrill, a pottery
salesman from Little Rock, Arkansas who sold Camark and Niloak Pottery. At one time it was
thought that Rumrill was a designer, but research shows that he was always a salesman. His designs came from other companies or from hiring designers such as Louise Bauer, who worked at
Shawnee Pottery and later went on to be the head designer at Hull Pottery.
Rumrill originally tried to get his pottery made at Shawnee Pottery, but only one known piece was
made there, according to a plant manager. It was a RumRill display sign depicting a potter at a
wheel with the word RumRill on it. It is rumored that Rumrill and the Shawnee management had a
bitter argument and he went elsewhere to get his pottery line made as a result.
Red Wing made RumRill Pottery exclusively from August of 1932 until December of 1937, when
Red Wing hired the majority of George Rumrill’s sales staff and started marking the pieces with the
Red Wing name. During this 1932-7 period Red Wing would produce the same pottery without the
RumRill name on the bottom (only the shape number) and would put a Red Wing sticker on it. Red Wing also continued
to make stoneware, gardenware, and starting in 1935, dinnerware.
George Djalma Rumrill
After parting ways with Red Wing, Rumrill was made by Florence Pottery in Mount Gilead, Ohio. This factory, managed
by Lawton Gondor (who later founded Gondor Pottery) had been in and out of operation since the late 1800s, manufacturing flowerpots and tiles. Starting in December 1938, RumRill Pottery was made there exclusively for the next three
years.
On October 16, 1941 a fire destroyed Florence Pottery. An interesting tale is told about the fire and the events leading up
to it. Even though the pottery was not selling well, the foreman was ordered to continue manufacturing the pottery, filling
up the warehouse until it was overflowing. A fire broke out in the warehouse, ironically not in the kiln where pottery factory fires usually ignite. When the fireman arrived they sat within three feet of a cistern that for some reason was not
used. Many of the townspeople were seen carrying pottery out of the burning building, including the Fire Chief, who held
out his long coat while his wife loaded him up with pottery. On his second trip out of the factory, the Fire Chief died of a
heart attack. The next morning the paper carried the headline “Fire Chief Dies Fighting Fire”.
When Gondor opened up his own factory in Zanesville, Ohio in December
of 1941 it produced RumRill for around one year until Gondor started
manufacturing pottery under his own name; however, it is likely that very
little RumRill pottery was manufactured there due to the Second World
War.
From the Athenian Group in Suntan-Green Lined. The
base is #572 and the separate bowl is #573 ($1600).
Together they are 11” tall. This base was also offered
with a shallow bowl (#574).
For collectors, RumRill pottery is pretty separated into two categories, Red
Wing and post-Red Wing. Post-Red Wing is actually Florence Pottery, and
a few pieces that were manufactured at Gondor Pottery. Red Wing RumRill always has three digits for the shape number on the bottom (with the
exception of #50, #52, #53 & #54), while Florence RumRill almost always
has a letter and digits. The glazes were distinct for each company, and
easily identify the manufacturer even if the shape number on the bottom is
unreadable. The few pieces that were made at Gondor Factory are identified by their matching characteristics to pieces marked Gondor Pottery.
Prices for Red Wing RumRill pieces vary from around $30 dollars for some
of the common simple pieces to over $3000 for a Dark Blue #249 nude
handled vase.
#674-15” From the Neo-Classic Group.
This vase in Gypsy Orange was the
tallest in that group ($800)
#570-10” in Suntan–Seal Brown Lined from the
Athenian Group ($900).