When my dear friend Lenny sent me a picture from an antique store of a pottery Indian maiden with a bowl in her lap…..
I was instantly obsessed.
He, as well as I, had a vision of that bowl filled with small silver and turquoise trinkets. The kind of trinkets that I currently have non-Indian maiden shaped bowls filled with.
eBay solved that issue for me,
It wasn’t long before she was sitting on my desk and her bowl was filled with all these little wonderous things….
(a few small Zuni fetishes, silver/turquoise crosses, a couple Fred Harvey pins, and Hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff buttons…..you know, all the usual desk clutter)
But there was still more to come.
I found this dancing Indian chief on eBay too.
He landed on my desk right next to his mate.
Then I found this groovy arrow-head ashtray….just imagine the wonders this thing could hold……
How about wrangling keys and loose change near the front door?
Too bad it’s only 4 inched long…..
Not big enough to hold much of anything, but still pretty cool.
These were all made by the Frankoma Pottery company.
Frankoma Pottery was founded by University of Oklahoma professor John Frank in 1933. He named his newly founded company Frankoma; using his last name and the last 3 letters of the state he lived in……Oklahoma. Frank originally used the light hued Ada clay for his pottery, but then switched to locally sourced brick-red clay.
Other than the native figures and ashtrays, the couple also developed china in western-themed patterns like Plainsman, West Wind,
Ranch,
Native American,
and Wagon Wheel.
Frank and his wife Grace Lee continued to run the company until his death in 1973, leaving the company to their daughter Joniece who was forced to sell for bankruptcy reasons in 1991. Frankoma finally closed their factory doors in 2004.
Next time y’all see a piece that looks distinctly “Oklahomian?”,
….flip it over,
Because it just might be a piece of Frankoma.
THE CAVENDER DIARY 
Your friend Lenny finds the coolest things !
Lucky, lucky, luck…luck
I’m lucky, you’re lucky, he’s lucky, she’s lucky, WE’RE ALL LUCKY!!! (LUCKY BANNISTER!)
I love your new Frankoma pieces! Growing up in Oklahoma, I saw many pieces of Frankoma pottery in the homes of friends and family. I just have to clarify, we call ourselves “Oklahomans”. :-). Great post. It brought back lots of memories!
I never noticed it until I found that maiden, now I’m a little obsessed. The pieces are so distinct……..and easy to find still.
They really have a beautiful retro quality about them!
These are amazing pieces. I love the mini history lesson you provided as well. Mostly, these are so distinctively YOU! Thank you for sharing.
I know!!! How have I gone so long without them? They made about 15 different glazes….. But black is my fave, I may need to find a few white ones too. Hhhmmmm
Ooh, i had to check them out on ebay. I’m loving the green glaze! And that indian maiden is awesome.
I have to slow myself down or I will buy all that I see…BTW I paid about $15 each for my indians and $4 for the arrow, so don’t get suckered into the eBay prices
Love your blog! You need a Frankoma Texas shaped baking dish (or an Oklahoma one like mine). Perfect pan for cornbread or brownies.
Hi Rene’, You better believe that I need a Texas shaped baking dish…didn’t know there was such an animal. I have seeen the Oklahoma shaped, now I have a goal….Thanks
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please. Email me at stacyira1@gmail.com I have an extensive collection of frankomas rare pieces. Please let me know if you are looking for more