Monday, January 28, 2008

BREAKING BAUER...Myths!


BREAKING BAUER...Myths!
As the daughter of James Johnson; granddaughter of Fred Johnson; and great grand niece of Matt Carlton, I have “lived” Bauer Pottery my entire life. I have a wealth of information I want to share with collectors of this wonderful medium, while also correcting some misinformation in reference to my family and a few others...hence my book
"BREAKING BAUER...Myths!".

Unlike other collectors books on the market today, this volume covers the corrected & factual history of my family's involvement in, and contribution to, five separate potteries and one ceramic company. It charts more than one hundred years, travels from Arkansas to Indiana to California, and identifies over a dozen lesser known and unknown artists in the early American Arts and Crafts era of the pottery industry relating to these few companies.

It focuses primarily on Niloak Pottery in Benton, Arkansas, and J.A. Bauer Pottery in Los Angeles, California. Others covered include: Ouachita Pottery in Benton, Arkansas; Muncie Pottery in Muncie, Indiana; Garden City Pottery, San Jose, California; and Yona Ceramics, Los Angeles, California.

Unknown to current collectors, 12 (of my) family members labored at one or more of these establishments. However, among them only three have become "legends", namely, those listed in the first sentence above. They are mentioned repeatedly in other publications; however, much of the information is incorrect, incomplete, or distorted in some fashion, and most of the other nine members (or their contributions) are never revealed.

This history embraces the why's and wherefore's of who these artists were, mentally and emotionally...and what made them tic, thus providing insight into the effect, appearance, and appeal of each individual’s creations. It gives recognition and insight into other contributing employees and artists previously over looked (both family and non-related), whilst giving appropriate and authentic identification procedures, realistic values...and a great deal more!

It consists of 306 pages; over 500 photographs; Dedication, photographic identification of family members and other artists; company and personal histories; corrected product Identification and Values; Trivia relating to people/product, Techniques, Glaze identification and formulation, Glossary of pottery terms...and just for fun...a family album of never before seen shots!

This book is self-published:
Available on CD: $32.99 with FREE shipping.
(CD, 124 MB, opens in all Microsoft office/word systems; downloadable from CD and completely printable in full color!)
Also available on DVD, or CD in PDF format.
Payment via PayPal is preferred and affords immediate shipping. (If not familiar with PayPal, email me for quick & simple instructions). Personal checks, Bank cashiers checks, money orders are also welcome, with shipping upon checks bank clearance (allow six weeks for this process).
Please designate CD or DVD when ordering AND your preference of Microsoft Word or PDF format!
To ORDER, contact: cobina60@comcast.net (for checks, money orders) or deposit directly into PayPal via your account.
Photos below: Left, Carlton at Bauer
Left center, Carlton at Bauer, hand painted
Right center, Johnson at Muncie
Right, bottom, Johnson at Muncie




















NOTE: In the not too distant future, I will also be offering an audio CD or DVD, which is an assembly of old (1940-1950's) 8mm home movies of various areas of Bauer Pottery.
INCLUDED: Scenes of Plant II, Wat Bockman and other employees (including my father, grandfather, uncle, cousins, etc); personal "down time" of R&R shots of several employees, family, and much, much more! FUN STUFF HERE!
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR INTEREST AND SUPPORT!
To view a Tribute, double click on the ">" arrow below.
And PLEASE...check out the kind "Comments" and leave one of your own!