Franciscan Desert Rose Bud Vase

FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE BUD VASE - HAND-PAINTED CALIFORNIA POTTERY A single small bud vase in the Franciscan Desert Rose pattern, hand-painted glazed earthenware, approximately 6-1/4 inches tall, in a pear-shaped body with a gently waisted neck and a softly flared collar rim. Unlike the dinnerware in this pattern, the vase is decorated with a single generous hand-painted spray on each side rather than a wrapping border: one face carries a fully opened pink wild rose with a bright yellow center dotted in dark brown, the opposite face a closed pink bud, each with green leaves and brown-green branch work in raised relief. The cream ground is left plain elsewhere, which lets the painting carry the piece. Accessory and giftware forms like this are made in far smaller numbers than the plates and cups, so they show up much less often than the table pieces. Works well on its own with a few stems, on a windowsill or shelf, or grouped with the Desert Rose dinnerware, bowls, cup and saucer sets, gravy boat, and cookie jar offered elsewhere in this sale. Sold as one piece. Description One (1) hand-painted bud vase in the Franciscan Desert Rose pattern, glazed earthenware Pear-shaped or baluster body swelling at the lower third, tapering into a waisted neck and opening to a softly flared collar rim, on a plain recessed foot Measures approximately 6-1/4 inches tall per the tape-measure photograph, with the tape hooked on the table surface beside the vase and the rim falling just above the 6 inch mark. The tape sits alongside rather than against the piece, so read the height as a close estimate. Base diameter, rim opening, and body width were not measured with the tape, and bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs Decoration is a single hand-painted spray on each side in raised relief under a glossy glaze: one side an opened five-petal pink rose with an elongated yellow center dotted in dark brown, the other a closed pink bud, both with green leaves and olive-brown branch and thorn work Interior is glazed plain cream white, shown in the overhead rim photograph, and is clean with no visible mineral ring or residue No printed backstamp, oval mark, circular mark, or paper label is present on this piece. The underside is glazed plain white with a recessed foot, four small round stilt or kiln-support points, and a single small hand-painted black two-digit number reading approximately 19, which appears as 61 in the photograph because the vase is shown base up. This is a decorator or mold number, not a maker's mark Attribution note The pattern is identified as Franciscan Desert Rose, introduced in 1941 by Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles, California, and the best-selling pattern of American dinnerware ever produced, with California manufacture continuing into the mid-1980s. Replacements, Ltd. and the Gladding, McBean Franciscan archive both document that the pattern's dinnerware carries a printed backstamp that changed over the decades, from the early dark circular California Hand Decorated stamps of the 1940s and early 1950s, to the brown dotted oval bearing GLADDING, McBEAN & CO., to the INTERPACE ring marks of the mid-1960s and 1970s, and finally Wedgwood-era marks reading England or Portugal. Small accessory, giftware, and hollowware forms in this pattern were not always backstamped, and a hand-painted number alone on the base is common on those pieces, so the absence of a printed mark here is not unusual. Without a backstamp, the maker attribution and the dating rest on the pattern, the raised relief hand painting, the glaze, and the form. The pattern identification, the maker attribution, the reading of the painted number, and all dimensions given here are offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion and are not guaranteed. Bid on the item as pictured. Condition Used vintage condition, sold as-is. The vase was photographed from both painted sides, in profile with the tape measure, from overhead into the mouth, and base up on the underside. The glaze is bright and glossy, the cream ground is clean and even, and the painted rose and bud are strong and well saturated with good color. No chips, cracks, breaks, or repairs were observed in the photographs. Expect light overall handling and shelf wear consistent with age, including minor dulling and faint scuffing on the foot ring where the piece has been set down and slid. A few faint tan and dark specks and pinpoint flecks are visible in the glaze, typical of hand-decorated earthenware of this age. The base shows a faint cream to tan discoloration across the glazed underside along with four small round stilt points; these are firing artifacts and shelf contact rather than damage. The flared collar rim and the raised high points of the painted leaves and branch work are the areas most vulnerable to nicks and flakes on this form, and bidders should inspect the rim edge closely in the photographs. No pronounced crazing was clearly visible, though