# Texas Pottery



## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 21, 2009)

Hello to all, I've been reading the post here for the past couple of weeks and while I'm not new to bottle collecting, (I just can't dig and scratch like I used to). So I chase them in diffferent ways and sometimes I get very lucky. A recent piece I picked up as a trader is not a bottle but a storage pot from Texas. It's marked I. SUTTLES LAVERINA TEX. After I made the deal here's what I learned. Isaac Suttles was from Ohio, a member of an Irish pottery making family who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry, Ohio Volunteers. Recorded as " having suffered greatly as a prisoner in the horrible war camp at Andersonville, Georgia." Who with his brother George Washington Suttles operated a pottery factory in and around the town of La Vernia, Texas starting around 1870, teaching freed slaves the pottery trade. Isaac Suttles died in Abilene, he was found with a "hole' in his head. I'll work on posting pictures but thought this was an interesting piece to pass along from those who can't dig.


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## capsoda (Jun 21, 2009)

There was some great pottery coming out of Texas and Mexico after the Civil War. Can't wait to see it.


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

Curious why this was made, never seen it on other milk bowls.


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

Here's the top also marked I. Suttles.


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## kungfufighter (Jun 22, 2009)

Great looking piece!  Texas stoneware is not an area in which I am well versed but this is certainly a handsome object.  Is it something you'd be willing to sell or are looking to trade?


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

That's the part of the story that get's as good as it's history. This pottery it seems is very special to Texan's, special enough that the Museum of Fine Arts Huston collects it. I have one person who strongly would like to own it and I mentioned I bought it as a trader. 

 On the other side I have two mysteries from the same estate. Some guidence would be appericated. I have a guess but don't want to say yet. It's two pieces one is marked but I'm unable to make sense of it it's crude and not well defined. The last picture is for size comparison.


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

same pot


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

Big brother


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

Big brother again


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 22, 2009)

For comparision


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## capsoda (Jun 23, 2009)

The two bulbous ones are water contianers. They were very common and popular with the Mexicans in Texas and Mexico.

 The one at the top is the best one. Folks are going to try and convince you that it is just a been pot so the can get it cheep. Don't fall for it. It is a cider. It was filled with spiced cider and the dipper was left to rest in the pot with its wire stem going through the hole.

 You see alot of them in depression glass. I had a complete cider set in Royal Lace that was cobalt. Actually I had a complete set of Royal Lace in cobalt. It was about a hundred pieces counting spares.

 I would say a grand easy.


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 23, 2009)

That Blue Royal Lace was quite a feat!

 Thanks for the thoughts they are very helpful. Now another question for everyone. This crock is really not my interest area, I wonder what the best way to sell it would be to maximize it's potential? Out right has the advantage of cutting out the middleman, but auction can sometimes mean bigger prices realized. This piece seems to be one of those rare chances to get it right. I believe all of us have great war stories of a great find and I think most would agree we don't have enough of them. Well this is one of my great stories. What do y'all think?


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## cyberdigger (Jun 23, 2009)

I think you should not try to sell untill you know everything there is to know... maybe by then you will want to keep, but if not, you will be able to market with confidence.


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## capsoda (Jun 24, 2009)

I agree with Cyber Charles there on this. You can't realize the tru value without plenty of research. Get oppinions on rarety from the museum and other collectors.

 I would also consider the museum as a potental buyer. You may no realize the max dollar potintial but you would gain friends in the right place. Keep in mind "Jr Archytype" that if you get to know them you possable wrangle a dig with them and get to handle some real history.

 Just my thoughts.


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## Buffalo Hunter (Jun 24, 2009)

I thank you both for your thoughts, I'm thinking I know at least 75% of the piece's history which is 100 % more than when I bought it. It's really a great piece, no chips, cracks or hairlines both the lid and base are marked, the lid is customed fitted for the base. It's just not for me. As for museums, I've never dealt with one, according to what I've learned over the years they're like everyone else always looking for good buy. Money's tight and I doubt any museum even the Huston is spending money. My true thrill is the hunt and my reward either good or bad, it's what keeps some us of digging 20 footer's for a marble or a Cassins but always for the chance that there will treasure. I am expecting an offer from a western collector I found while researching. Just as here I think he's been up front. Before he saw the pictures he figured the bowl to be a couple of hundred and the lid if signed several hundred. Still I'm in no hurry, it's bought and paid for plus it doesn't eat.
 (sorry for edits, dang eyes)


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## ratfink (Jul 16, 2009)

Hi;
 Buffalo Hunter I am very interested in the Suttles pottery. Let me know if you still have it.


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## hsuttles (Apr 12, 2011)

Hi, do you by chance still have that pottery piece and would you like to sell it?  Isaac Suttles is my husband's great, great, great uncle and we would love to have a piece of pottery since it's part of our family history!


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## bostaurus (Apr 12, 2011)

Wow, who would have thought LaVernia had a pottery.  We have friends that live in LaVernia.  It is a very small town that has only begun to gain  in population in the last couple decades as folks spread out from San Antonio.


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## jays emporium (Apr 12, 2011)

At the Warrenton antique weekend a couple weeks ago I saw a booth with lots of Texas pottery in the Cole's building.  I think there were some Suttles pieces there.  The next show is in Sept, they only have it twice a year but it is a huge sale with thousands of booths.
 Jay


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## bostaurus (Apr 12, 2011)

> Curious why this was made, never seen it on other milk bowls.


 Could it have been used for making cheese?  Let the milk set and curdle and then pour the whey off the curds.
 Or even let the milk sit and the pour off the cream.


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## Buffalo Hunter (Apr 13, 2011)

I traded it to a Texas collector.


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