Frankoma pottery

All posts tagged Frankoma pottery

Another Arrow Head Ashtray

Posted by James on April 26, 2015
Posted in: New Home. Tagged: , , . 14 Comments

……and neither of us even smokes.

When I saw this picture from Roger and Chris’s 160 year-old Victorian home tour…..

Roger and Chris's Stove Top in Sharon Springs with Frankoma Arrow Head Ashtray

….I knew that I needed one of those Frankoma arrow head ashtrays. (Like I need anything else)

I’ve written about my obsession with the now defunct Frankoma pottery company a few times.

Took a while of cruising eBay, but I scored one for myself…….pale green glaze, and cheap too.

Frankoma Arrow Head Ashtray

Now I finally have enough..

With that settled, let me introduce y’all to Roger and Chris, and the 160 year-old Victorian they refurbished in Sharon Springs, NY.

Roger and Chris's 160 Year Old Victorian with Pink Door

…and their pink Isetta too,

Roger and Chris's Living Room

Roger and Chris's Eclectic Kitchen

Roger and Chris's Dining Room Collage

Roger and Chris's Pantry

Peaceful MAster Bedroom

Blue Sofa in the Master Bedroom

Roger and Chris's Master Bathroom Collage

Roger and Chris's Master Bathroom

Buck Against that Pink Front Door

Isn’t that place just awesome?

Never in a million years would I think to paint a house black with a hot-pink door…….but it works. (Oooh, it looks like the house and trim are 2 different shades of black, but they’re really just flat vs semi-glass)

And the inside of the place?….Just the right amount of junk, and color, mid-century, and antique.

Swoon,

I’ve been following these boys since they lived in Austin a few years ago. Check out that house here. (I think that I might actually like it better)

Oh yeah, and follow their design adventures on their blog, RogerandChris.com.

The Elusive Frankoma Buffalo

Posted by James on January 9, 2014
Posted in: Did Ya Know?, New Home. Tagged: , , . 5 Comments

I wrote about collecting Frankoma a few months ago.

(didn’t mean to create all the new collectors/competitors that I’m now bidding against on eBay)

It’s no secret that I enjoy scoring a piece of Frankoma pottery occasionally, the thrill of the hunt and all, it’s still cheap and usually pretty easy to find.

….. nabbed a cool-ass, Texas-shaped ashtray  in September.

But this….this is the big score.

The white Buffalo (technically a bison, but we can argue about that later).

IMG_0123

Isn’t he just great? I’ve been hunting this guy for a couple of years, and I’ve finally bagged one.

I feel …….complete…… now,

……..pretty certain that will pass though,

Happy Hunting, Y’all

Frankoma Ashtray

Posted by James on November 12, 2013
Posted in: New Home. Tagged: . 2 Comments

We posted about collecting Frankoma pottery a few months ago, and have been getting emails from all the collectors we’ve created.

Sorry about that, Folks,

But it is pretty “crave-able” stuff.

Easy to find….

And best of all, still cheap. (I mean reasonably priced.)

Found this old Frankoma ashtray for a couple of bucks recently.

Frankoma Texas Ashtray

Perfect size for holding spare change, Burt’s Bees, and car keys.

This is the stamp on the bottom,

Frankoma Stamp on Back of the Ashtray

I’ve always wondered of the other states were jealous because Texas has such a distinctly beautiful shape.

Makes a perfect ashtray, doesn’t it?

For some reason, the ash falls on Dallas and Houston….

HHmmmm

Frankoma Pottery

Posted by James on April 2, 2013
Posted in: Did Ya Know?, New Home. Tagged: . 17 Comments

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,

Frankoma Indian Maiden with Bowl

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)

Trinkets in the Indian Maiden Bowl

But there was still more to come.

I found this dancing Indian chief on eBay too.

Frankoma Dancing Indian Chief

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?

Frankoma Arrow Shaped Ashtray

Too bad it’s only 4 inched long…..

4 inch Frankoma Arrow Head Ashtray

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,

Frankoma Ranch Black Dinner Plate

Native American,

Frankoma Native American Plate in White

and Wagon Wheel.

Frankoma Wagon Wheel Dinner Plate

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.