Introduction:
Gonder Sovereign is the smallest line produced by Gonder. This nine item line of cigarette wares and vanity items is produced in vitreous china. Pieces are extremely small - most items are under four inches in height. They are also very light in
weight - the exact opposite of pieces from Gonder's art pottery lines.
The pieces were marked with paper labels. As you may guess, these pieces are hard to find because labels
were nearly always removed. The normal Gonder indicators - glaze treatment, pottery weight and pottery style - will be of little assistance to novice collectors and dealers when prospecting for this line of wares. The
line was discontinued but the date and reasons are unknown.
Mold Numbers: The Sovereign Line consists of nine items using mold numbers 800-808. None of the items are marked with the mold number. Collectors will need to familiarize themselves with each piece and it's mold number. Even though this line is small, there are three cigarette urns and one cigarette cup in the line. These four pieces are similar in style so confusion can occur if you are not familiar with the mold number.
Glaze Finishes:
Glaze treatments offered on the Sovereign line are solid
color pastel glazes - the least "Gonder like" glaze you can
imagine. The glazes include White, Celadon Green, Royal Blue, Shell Pink and Azure Blue. Pieces were available plain or decorated. Decorated pieces are trimmed with gold - usually around the rim of the piece.
Notes: Even though this is a small line, pieces are elusive. I am still missing two items from this line after nearly 20 years of collecting. I suspect many pieces are overlooked by dealers since once the label is gone, there is no indication of the maker.
I also note that there is a spelling discrepancy between the label - Sovereign and Soverign on the price list. It appears it is a simple spelling error on the price list. Thankfully we now have spell check!
