4 Desert Rose Bowls

SET OF FOUR FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE FRUIT OR DESSERT BOWLS - HAND-DECORATED CALIFORNIA EARTHENWARE Four more matching small bowls in Franciscan Desert Rose, the best-selling American dinnerware pattern ever produced. Each has the pattern's soft-scalloped rim with the pale green edge line, hand painted with open pink wild roses, pink buds, and glossy green leaves on tan twig sprays circling the rim, over a warm off-white glossy body. This is the everyday fruit and dessert size, the piece people reach for with berries, applesauce, ice cream, pudding, cereal, or a fruit side, and the one that most often needs replacing in an inherited set. All four carry the same Franciscan Interpace-era backstamp with a hand-painted decorator number. Sold as a lot of four pieces. Description Four Desert Rose fruit or dessert bowls, round with a soft-scalloped and gently waved rim, shallow rounded well, and a low plain foot ring. Each measures approximately 5-1/2" to 6" in diameter across the rim and approximately 1-1/2" to 1-3/4" tall per the tape-measure photographs. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Hand-painted underglaze Desert Rose decoration around the rim: open pink five-petal wild roses with yellow, brown-dotted centers, closed pink buds, and two-tone green leaves on tan-olive twig stems, finished with the soft green wash along the scalloped edge. Wells are plain glossy off-white. Backstamp: dotted oval mark with ring lettering reading INTERPACE across the top and MADE IN U.S.A. across the bottom, enclosing a small over Franciscan in script over EARTHENWARE. Below the oval are the numbers 28-68 and the line OVEN SAFE/COLOR FAST, with a larger hand-painted 36 beneath - a decorator or line number applied at the pottery. Attribution note Franciscan Desert Rose was introduced in 1941 by Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles and became the most successful American dinnerware pattern of the twentieth century, produced in California into the mid-1980s. Gladding, McBean was absorbed into Interpace Corporation in the early 1960s, and reference sources including Replacements, Ltd. and the Gladding, McBean Franciscan archive associate the "Interpace" ring wording with roughly the mid-1960s through 1970s span of American production, ahead of the later Wedgwood-era England and Portugal marks. These bowls are therefore USA-made California production. Dating is offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion drawn from the backstamp and is not guaranteed. Bid on the items as pictured. Condition Used vintage condition, sold as-is. All four bowls photograph clean and bright with strong color, glossy glaze, and no chips, cracks, or repairs observed. Expect normal age and use wear consistent with everyday dinnerware: light utensil and spoon scratching in the wells, faint gray marks and shadowy wear, small dark specks fired into the glaze including a few dark flecks within the painted leaves, and shelf and stacking wear on the foot rings and undersides. Small stilt or pin marks on the undersides are original manufacturing points, not damage. The bowls were not individually inspected under bright light and no warranty is made as to hidden hairlines. Photos are part of the description. Notes for bidders Marked oven safe and color fast, but hand washing is recommended on vintage Franciscan to protect the hand-painted decoration and the green rim line. Avoid abrasive scouring pads and sudden temperature changes. Only the four bowls pictured are included in this lot. Terms Sold as-is, where-is, All sales final. Please ask any questions before bidding. Buyer is responsible for pickup or shipping arrangements per auction terms.