Henry Chapman Mercer Pottery

By JillianJacklin, 23 March, 2013
Description

I have this piece of pottery that I am certain was made by Henry Chapman Mercer.

The design on my piece matches what is on this link: http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/tile-397910. It is exactly how they describe, "embossed tiles with a flowerpot in a central box with five off-shooting blossoms. Medieval text around all four edges. Maltese cross in top left corner. "X" in top right and bottom corners." Except my piece is not a tile, it is an open ceramic box of some sort. It was made from the red clay, has beige and blue colors, with a glossy finish.

Category
Pottery
Medium
Red Clay, from Buck's County, PA
Distinguishing marks
Flower pot in the center of the design, Maltese crosses, and Medieval script going around the edges.
Condition
Good
Size and dimensions of this item
roughly 4 inches tall and 4 1/4 inches wide
Date Period
between 1900-1930?
Weight
less than 5 pounds
History
Found this piece as my husband and I where driving past this storage facility. There was a sign in front of an open storage space saying Free! So my husband said lets stop, at first I was hesitant, but he did it anyways. Well we ended up taking three boxes home filled with possibly semi useful things. This little piece was amongst all of that, which I had no idea what it was. I thought someone made it their self, Mercer was much better at making tile, so I read. But the design is outrageous, only thing I saw similar is at the museum in Boston, which they just have the tiles http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/tile-397910.

eBay Auction Link
Price Paid (If known)
FREE
For Sale?
No
Photos