Introduction: Gonder Standard is one of the two initial lines produced at Gonder. Standard Line pieces are some of the most commonly found pieces - indicating they were popular with the buying public and produced in large
quantities. Production of the Standard Line began in early 1942. Production for the line was eliminated as new lines of wares were introduced - although exact dates are not known.
Several popular pieces from the Standard Line continued to be produced throughout the life of the pottery. Such pieces were re-issued in new and exciting glazes that developed for other lines of wares. Items E-3, E-5, E-12, E-44, H-69, H-73, J-31 and J-60 are a few items that can be found in most if not
all production glazes.
Mold Numbers:
Pieces
in the Standard Line were assigned an alpha-numeric mold ID. The alphabetic character is the Series indicator and is based on the size of the piece. Valid alphabetic series designations are B, E, H, J, K,
L, M and P. The smallest pieces are in the B series and the size of the pieces increase as you progress through the alphabet. The largest pieces in the line belong to the M series.
The
numeric is most often a value between 1 and 99, although some pieces have 3
digit numbers (ex. 601, 773). Examples of Standard Line pieces using
using this alpha-numeric system are: E-3, H-69, H-601, J-773, L-14 and
P-24.
A copy of a Gonder Price List indicates the approximate sizes of each series as follows. The number in parentheses indicates the approximate number of unique items in that series.
B - 4 3/4" (3)
E - 6 1/2" (24)
H - 8 1/2" (44)
J - 11" (18)
K - 12 1/2" (4)
L - 13" (2)
M - 14" (3)
P - 8 1/2" (4)
In addition, a few pieces in the Standard Line can be found marked with several different mold numbers. For example, the E-5 vase has been found marked E-5, E-305 or 305; the E-65 ewer is found marked E-65, E-365 or 365. It is not fully understood why this change in mold numbers was implemented.
It is my observation that popular pieces from the Standard Line were often (but not always) assigned a new mold number when re-issued in a glaze that was developed for a later line of wares. For
example, E-12 becomes 312, H-69 becomes 669 and J-60 becomes 860 when found in a glaze from the Gonder Original line. This
change in mold number goes unnoticed by most dealers and collectors, but reveal the age of the piece as later production years.
Glaze Finishes:
Pieces from the Standard
Line are finished in various glaze treatments and nearly all have the well known pink interior glaze treatment. Glazes include (but are not limited to) Ebony Green, Royal Purple, Wine Brown, Mother of Pearl Lustre, Shell Pink Lustre, Gold Lustre, Antique Gold, White Chinese Crackle, Turquoise Chinese Crackle, and Antique Gold Crackle.
It is also possible to find Standard Line pieces finished in solid color glazes. The interior of these pieces is usually the same color as the exterior of the piece. I suspect these were produced in the later years of the pottery and only used one glaze color to reduce the time and cost of producing the piece. I have seen several examples in a solid Turquoise glaze as well as solid Royal Blue. These pieces are much more difficult to locate.
For specifics on glazes please see the glazes section of the web site.
Notes:
The Gonder price list indicates that items were ordered using the group (series letter) and the glaze desired. The numeric mold value was not identified in the price list. Prices quoted were per dozen indicating an assortment of available items from the group would be included in the dozen. Gonder did honor special orders so it is possible that a merchant could order specific pieces and glazes should they require that for their business.
Pieces from the
Gonder Standard Line consist of figures, console bowls and/or console sets
(bowls and coordinating candleholders), planters, vases, and a few kitchenware items. In your collecting efforts, you will find many examples of E, H and J series pieces. However, few pieces were assigned to the B, K, L, M and P series.
There are three small avian figures that were previously produced at RumRill. A penguin from the A series (A-9) and two birds from the B series (B-10, B-11). I have not located any of these with Gonder labels or finished in production Gonder glazes. I do not believe these were production pieces. Only a few are known to exist with a Gonder label. There are however two geese figures in the B series (B-14, B-15) that are easily found in Gonder glazes or with Gonder labels. Similar figures were produced by several other potteries so be sure to look for a Gonder glaze when trying to determine the maker.
A note about RumRill:
Many designs from
this line are easily located with a RumRill mark and glaze. These pieces were produced for RumRill by Florence Pottery in Mt. Gilead, Ohio where Lawton Gonder was the general manager. The factory burned in October
1941 and was closed. Many molds used at Florence were purchased for use by Gonder at his newly organized pottery in Zanesville, Ohio. The reuse of these molds allowed
Gonder to quickly bring pieces to market under the Gonder name.
Note that not all pieces from
RumRill were put into production at Gonder. Since Gonder had managed the
production of these pieces at Florence Pottery, he would have been well aware of
production issues or slow sales associated with a given piece. It is likely he
eliminated pieces from the line that were not cost effective to produce.
Therefore, you will find lapses in the numbering sequence of Gonder pieces. For
example, we find the H-5 and H-7 pieces carried forward to the Gonder Standard
Line, but the H-6 piece has not been located with a Gonder mark or in a
known Gonder glaze. This would indicate it was not used in production by
Gonder.
RumRill had many more series than Gonder. Only a few pieces from RumRill series A, D, F, G, I, R and S were carried
forward. Those pieces that were carried forward to Gonder were issued a new mold number.
