Muncie Pottery Early Arts and Crafts Shapes

When the Muncie Clay Products Company began producing their so-called Rainbow Pottery around 1924, they had a solid assortment of shapes and forms from which to supply retailers with their Artistic Pottery line. Collectors often refer to the shapes from before1926 as the Early Arts and Crafts forms, encompassing approximately 100 designs. Many of these shapes continued to be produced well into the 1930's, and they are undated, so it is difficult to be certain when a particular piece was created. These designs however all predate the art deco styling or influence of Reuben Haley and are clearly arts and crafts pieces.

The first 20 shapes (100 through 119) are likely the first shapes created, as they are all simple arts and crafts vase forms that can be readily duplicated with a jig. By the time their first known catalog was produced they had already discontinued 2 of the shapes, numbers 103 and 114. By 1929 less than half of these shapes were still offered for sale.

The second 20 shapes (120 through 139) were all larger cast vases suggesting that they came slightly later, but still early. The majority were discontinued fairly quickly as most do not occur in catalogs from 1929.

Shapes 145 through 155 were candlesticks or candle-holders. Shapes 157 through 175 were various bowls, tazzas, and baskets. Shapes 176 through 183 are an eclectic group of shapes, marking the end of the early craft designs from this numerical series.

Early novelty pieces such as ashtrays and smoking accessories were given numbers beginning with 201 through 213 and are shown elsewhere. Likewise, additional items such as wall pockets, bookends, sculptures, flower frogs, and lidded jars were assigned numbers between 250 and 275.

The following shapes have common names associated with them by collectors and dealers which were not designated by the company originally:

• 100 Baluster Vase

• 104 Stick Vase

• 107 Pencil Vase

• 108 The Obelisk

• 110 Inkwell

• 113 Little Joe

• 128 Amphora

• 143 Genie Vase

• 169 Lotus Bowl

• 173 Fruit Bowl

• 181 Grecian Urn

The color list included the following Bright (High gloss) colors: Black, Ivory, Dark Blue, Green, Yellow, and Light Blue. Green drip over Ivory, Blue drip over Green, and Peachskin, described as Black, Red, and Yellow. The colors used for Matte glazes include Rose, Blue, and Green. The combinations listed were Blue over Rose, and Green over Rose. Many pieces are often found in additional combinations, illustrating the longevity of some shapes in the Muncie Pottery inventory.

Below is a guide to the Early Muncie Pottery arts and crafts shapes. Those listed as "No Image" do not occur in any known catalogs and await the discovery of additional catalogs to identify them. If you are in possession of original catalogs, advertisements, or other paperwork relating to Muncie Pottery, please contact The Kings Fortune to help us keep our information as accurate as possible.