How 'bout a bit of Bennington? This Vermont pottery is very popular with collectors. Some I like, and some I don't. I love this one:
It's a large roaster, big enough for a chicken or a bit ol' hunk of meat. Found it at the thrift for $6 and it's all for me. It's quite brilliant in it's simplicity (which we always love) because the lid can slide side to side, but catches on the little mini speed bumps in order to safely release the hot steam. The lid can also be used as a divided serving tray or as an actual carving tray, allowing the juices to drizzle down into the sections. See? Brilliant!
Some other pieces I came across recently:
And here are some shots of their backstamps. Interesting because the number represent models, not years, and the models were used over and over again. This makes it hard to really accurately date Bennington pieces.
One thing that I love, that I just learned, is about the symbol you can see on the third photo below. The designer, David Gil (whose initials are on the 2nd picture below,) came up with the symbol of an arm and a hand, representing the physical craft of creating pottery. At the top of the arm is a little star which represents the "spark" of imagination also required to create. How cool! Some of the pieces started to be too small to include the whole arm, so often all you see is the "spark."
Can you match the back stamps with their piece?
Here's a graphic of the backstamp:
~ Jenny
I have that chicken roaster in cobalt blue pattern. Bought ages ago up in Vermont and haven't seen that piece in the past 10 years. I love mine and use it for whole chickens and great vegetarian casseroles. It's self-basting!
ReplyDeleteThat is so great to know, I am very excited to have it as a staple cooking tool. Now I just have to figure out the actual cooking part...
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