Stanford Pottery

[bobfreedman]

Just got the Braves full head dress piece this morning in the mail and now have six of the possible eight pieces. I am just missing the Boston Braves and the man face Detroit both are fairly common. The elephant and the Braves full head dress are incredibly rare but are by far the best looking

[BrockJacob]

Jeezus dude. That's just... aghh. I can't even say how cool that is.

[Wymers Auction]

Great pickup!!!

[mjkm90]

Holy Cow!!! Let's hear the stories behind the real scarcities please

[Rob D.]

Love 'em. Nice job.

[perezfan]

Incredile pickup, Bob... sooooo rare, and a gorgeous piece. Congrats!

You should find the remaining two with little effort, if you are inclined to "complete" the set.

Of course (if one wanted to nitpick) there are two additional pieces, but I'm not sure if they really count...

1. Generic Manface (No Tigers on chest- just a plain jersey)
2. Albino Pirate (It's all white, and not very attractive, IMO)

The "Albino" Pirate turns up often enough, that I think it warrants inclusion in the set. Perhaps not, though... guessing there's only a handful of people out there who would really care

[Rob D.]

Not to pile on but rather to follow up on Mark's thoughts, there's also a smaller, prototype version of the Cleveland Indian. All a matter of personal preference.

[perezfan]

Great point, Rob... I forgot those prototypes. I have the Braves, which is different from traditional Stanford Pottery in a number of ways...

1. Slightly smaller
2. Chalk composition instead of Ceramic
3. Not as glossy
4. No coin slot in back

Or is it a razor slot? (I have heard opinions both ways)

I have also heard that these may have been Salesmen Samples?

Here's a pic of mine.... hope others will post/add to this thread as well

[perezfan]

Here's the Tigers Man-face, for anyone who's interested. By far the biggest/tallest of the Stanfords...

[perezfan]

One last post, as I like this topic...

While the Full Headdress Stanford Pottery Brave is insanely rare and desirable... there is also a Full Headdress Gibbs Conner.

This is another very rare piece, but obviously not as coveted. Anyway, thought I would attach a photo, since it's attractive and pretty closely related.

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Or is it a razor slot? (I have heard opinions both ways)

The company definitely marketed these as -- among other things -- depositories for used razor blades. Here's an original tag that hung around the neck of the Indian at the point of sale.

[Rickyy]

Wow...Love them...great pieces!

Ricky Y

[bobfreedman]

Thanks for clarifying all the different points brought out as well as the compliments. I do believe that these were exclusively for used razor blades as there is no way to get the money out once the money has been dropped in, unless you consider breaking the pottery pieces which I do not believe was the intent.

I will eventually only get the two (Detroit man face and the smaller Boston Braves piece). I agree with you Mark that the Pirate not painted is ugly and I really do not consider that a different piece but I can see how others would.

[Rob D.]

The middle piece in the first photo is the miniature version of the Indian that I have. Even though I described it above as a prototype, I think Mark is correct that it was a salesman sample.

The second photo is a close-up of the remainder of a sticker on the base of the Stanford Potter Indian pictured on the right in the other photo. It reads "Souvenir of Cleveland, Ohio."

I have a few Gibbs Conner pieces that have similar stickers, but this is the only Stanford Pottery statue I've found with one.

Bob, I think these also were marketed as banks, as evidenced by the phrase "The chief not only helps the savers ..." on the point-of-sale tag.

[Scott Garner]

I agree with Rob.
I recall the image of the older ceramic piggy banks requiring using a hammer to shatter the back to grab the saved cash...

[djrhanover]

Those are fantastic pieces, Bob! Beautiful collection. How about a Kentucky Pirates?

[perezfan]

HOORAY! Another variation...

Bob's Pirate (original post) has the full Beard, while Dave's Kentucky Pirate has just the thin mustache. Cool


Also... My White Elephant has "Athletics" across the chest, but I saw one at the National that said "A's". Very few of either are known to exist... Bob, just curious which version you have (he's turned sideways, so impossible to tell...)

[bobfreedman]

Mine says Athletics across the chest as well as I have seen both now that you mention that.

Also I have received an image from someone that has a Dodger Bum that is blue. Wow!! I would love to own this one but I am not going to sweat all the variations as they appear to be limitless apparently

[Rob D.]

In a friend's collection is a Stanford Pottery Cleveland Indian whose uniform is a road gray rather than the standard white. I've seen the statue in person and can say with 100 percent certainty that the uniform was made to appear gray, as opposed to just being a color variation or "mistake."

Learning about variations like the "Kentucky" Pirate is awesome.

About 10 years ago I was contacted by someone who lived a stone's throw from where Stanford Pottery was once located. He said he had a "black" Indian, which he speculated someone at the factory made after Larry Doby joined the Indians. We spoke twice on the phone, and I must have asked a half-dozen times whether the skin color was below the glaze and not something that was added after the statue left the factory. He assured me it was original.

We made arrangements to meet, and I drove 2 hours to a Burger King off of I-71 in North Canton, Ohio. As I sat in the booth and he walked toward me holding the statue, I could tell from 15 feet away that the black paint on the statue had been hand painted onto the surface and wasn't part of the manufacturing process.

I broke the bad news to him, explained why he wasn't going to be experiencing a cash windfall, bought a few cheeseburgers and some fries for the ride home and left.