Vase with initials NP

 Yes, the initials are mine for Nancy Patterson. You could try to send a photo to:

lambsgoodearth@gmail.com. I do not know it’s worth.

 Dear Kathy, I am delighted to hear from you! Your parents were very special friends. When they came on field work in our part of the Appalachians, they stayed with me. I hiked with them looking at rocks! Thanks for writing! Nancy

Hannah's Flowers?

Hello, Your question about a pattern, "Hannah's Flowers," is no , there was no such pattern. I think what you saw probably was "Rachel's garden," also a blue and white pattern with flowers, usually painted within a square frame. There also were bugs.

Olive Green

The Olive Green pattern is named POND MOUNTAIN. The glaze is derived from iron, whch in a reduction firing cycle turns the glaze a Celadon green.

Reasons for closing Iron Mountain Stoneware

To granddaughter of Margaret Gose: I am having difficulty in managing the posts on the blog with a new system by Google. However, to answer your quetion about the reasons for Iron Mountain closing, they are as follows: There was no natural gas in Johnson County, and we used propane for fuel to fire the ilns. However, propane cost a lot more than natural gas. There was a shortage of gas, and prices doubled. That was one reason. Another was increasing costs for insurance and labor, another, the high cost of bank interest (18%). Our kilns needed repair. Retailers took longer to pay for shipments. We always suffered from insufficient working capital. altogether, it was impossble to continue.

answer request

answer

Nancy Lamb <lambsgoodearth@gmail.com>	Sat, Jan 26, 1:16 PM
to Unknown

Hello, Pat, Thanks for your inquiry. My daughter, Katie Lamb, has a shop here in Damascus, VA, where we live. In the shop she is selling the Iron Mountain Stoneware we still have. I asked her about the Blue Ridge plates. Thee are none of those, but she does have five Basic Black plates, which work well with Blue Ridge. There are a few in other patterns, too, including One of a Kind plates by my sister, Sally Patterson, and by Jim Kaneko.

You canreach her at her shop: meandlittletree.com

Regards, Nancy Lamb

Sally C. Patterson

Sally Cone Patterson (b. Wausau, Wisconsin in 1932. d. Sacramento, California in 2007)

Sally grew up in Southern California. She graduated with a B.F.A. degree from the University of California at Berkley and subsequently earned her M.F.A. degree there in painting. After graduation, she spent a year abroad, traveling in Europe and attending the Hammersmith School of Art in England.

Sally taught art classes at the College of Holy Names in Oakland, California for several years. She also taught in the fine art department at American River College in Sacramento until coming to southwest Virginia 1964 to join her sister, Nancy, at Iron Mountain Stoneware.

Sally assisted in training the first employees. She taught them to love the clay. During the ten-week training course Sally inspired her pupils to create birdhouses, farm animals, and charming folk art with the clay. At the end of the training session, Sally began to paint on the stoneware bowls and platters. At first, she used a single brown pigment to paint abstractly her observations that “Trees edge the streams and fields, and one can always see another mountain beyond the one that’s close.” Each piece was an original, never like another, a One-of-a Kind.

In Virginia, Sally spent several years teaching for the University of Virginia Extension. Too, she taught art in the Washington County, Virginia Elementary Schools. A consultant to the State Art Education program, Sally produced a book illustrated with the art her children created.

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As Iron Mountain’s range of decoration colors and glazes grew, so did Sally’s array of decorative one-of-a-kind pieces. In addition to platters and bowls, her paintings adorned teapots, pitchers, cups and mugs, as well as most of the ware shapes produced. She executed numerous commissions for kitchens, tile counters and backsplashes, and she created framed multiple-tile paintings. Sally and Jim Kaneko collaborated to design the decorations for Iron Mountain’s “Lookout Mountain” pattern, a bold and daring concept when it was introduced to the dinnerware market.

Sally’s charming drawings illustrated Iron Mountain sale advertising. She designed a series of distinctive gift boxes for the stoneware, also used to promote sales.

Sally’s unique One-of-a Kind decorated pieces are highly prized by collectors. Their value continues to escalate with the passing of every year.

             

Hello, Janet,
The "M" signed on the bottom your mug, stands for Mary, who was the decorator.

Winterlight cups

On the bottom of your cups the letter "F" is for Fern, who decorated the cup. The "81" is for the year, 1981.

IN TRIBUTE

 Michelle Townsend Childress

          Michelle, founder and author of the Iron Mountain Stoneware blog, passed away of Friday, June 24, 2016 in Grayson Highlands State Park, at the age of 61.

         

         To honor Michelle, we - her friends and fellow collectors - will endeavor to continue what she has created. We are indebted to Michelle's husband and son for their assistance. We celebrate her life, and we treasure memories of time spent together.

Training to Make Stoneware

The items found in the photos here were all small animal sculptures (lamb, bear and duck) created by Vennia (Vennie) Cornett at Iron Mountain Stoneware in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee between the years 1965 and 1968.  The pieces all are original one-of-a-kind pieces.  They were modeled by hand.
Venie was one of Iron Mountain's original forty-five trainees in 1965.  During a six week program the trainees worked with clay to learn its characteristics and limitations.  They modeled various animals, figures, birdhouses, and other forms from their imagination.  The objects were glazed and fired.
From this group the first sixteen employees were selected, and Vennie was included.  Her stoneware creations captured the interest of buyers, and Vennie continued to make the small sculptures in additon to her factory work.  The textured frog was made by  Desmal Johnson--another of the Iron Mountain employees.
The lamb is glazed in Ice, the duck is an early version of Pond Mountain, named Lichen, and the bear is glazed in Roan Mountain. The frog also appears to be in Roan Mountain.  Two of these sculptures, the lamb and bear, are being sold on eBay this week with a copy of a certificate of authenticity from Nancy Lamb.

Figurines - lamb, bear, frog, and duck

Note the IMS mark on all but one--the lamb

Rachel's Garden 'Married' Piece?

'Married' cup and vase piece

During the first group gathering of the Iron Mountain Stoneware fans this past December, one member brought an unusual piece which Nancy verified as Rachel's Garden.  The piece was 'married' (joining two pieces together to make a separate and different shape) from two other shapes being used by the stoneware company--an upside down candleholder and a lamp bottom. The glazing is beautiful on this one and it is very unusual.  Nancy was the only artist who did the glazing of this pattern due to its intricate design.  However there is no IMS stamp on the bottom--only the initial LD which stood for Iron Mountain employee, Lila Dunn,  and the numbers 88. If you are curious about the separate shapes, check out the pricelist tab on the blog to see the silhouette of the lamp, #2000.

Side view os 'married' vase

Bottom markings on vase

Ladder Back Pattern

Recently, a new pattern showed up on eBay for sale.  The owner had 32 pieces which included dinner plates, a platter, salad plates, coffee cups, and soup bowls.  Nancy Patterson contacted the seller on eBay to clarify the pattern name - Ladder Back.  When contacted privately Nancy said she only made a few pieces of this pattern and it was used in advertising for the Henredon furniture manufacturer, located in North Carolina.  Nancy went on to say that the furniture company used these sets as tabletop displays and magazine photo ads.  It was never created for sale, but only as a furniture sales promotion.  It is rare, but when the 32 pieces listed for $500, there were no buyers interested.  The pieces were relisted for $400.

Dinner plate

Platter

 

A sample of the 32 pieces available on eBay

         

Sculpted Salt and Pepper Shakers Origin

Pond Mountain and Whispering Pines patterns

There have been several questions and comments about the creation of the sculpted salt and pepper shakers - one of the three different styles of shakers for the stoneware patterns. According to Nancy Lamb, in a recent conversation this summer, Jim Kaneko designed the sculptured salt and pepper shakers. These shakers depict a boy throwing a ball (pepper) to the girl (salt) with her arms outstretched to catch it.  Typically these shakers are the most expensive of the three available sets available for the patterns found in antique and collectible stores. 

The California Connection for Iron Mountain Stoneware

Measuring 9.5 inches - luncheon plate size

Upon seeing the many pieces of Iron Mountain Stoneware (IMS) for sale on eBay which are shipping from California, I had to believe there was at least one major distribution point there.  This week a distribution store was finally confirmed when I visited a local collector in my area who was selling some of their collection.  While discussing different places where she and her husband had seen pieces of IMS during their travels, they mentioned an exclusive, high-end store in San Francisco, CA called Gumps.  I looked up Gumps (find the store history here) today and while they are still in business, IMS is not.

Recently, as further proof of the stoneware being sold by Gumps, the luncheon-sized plate pictured here was offered for auction.  Purchasing this plate in 1979 from Gumps afforded the new owner the ability to choose Iron Mountain Stoneware pieces in exchange for it as it was listed as a gift certificate.  The plate was personally signed by Nancy, in 1979, signifying that she did the hand application of decorative glaze in the Martha's Flowers colors.  This design is not duplicated on any of the Martha's Flowers plates however--so it could be truly unique to this 'gift certificate.

Signed by Nancy in 1979

Mixing Patterns

Over the Hills and Evegreen patterns together

The more collectors I talk with, the more I discover that they, like me, mix and match patterns if they use their stoneware regularly.  I use Whispering Pines and Pond Mountain together for everyday dishes here at home. Another pattern combination which also looks really nice together is Over the Hills and Evergreen as evidenced in the photo included in this post.  I am not sure if any of the glazes were the same or simply blend well together after having been fired.  Check out the solid as well as the monochromatic patterns to see what you might be able to put together to round out a full collection!

Stoneware Race Cars

Note the raised head of a driver in a one-of-a-kind car

Iron Mountain Stoneware was located in Laurel Bloomery, Tennessee.  Many of the pieces of the stoneware wound up in private collections in nearby towns and small cities.  One such piece, this vehicle sculpture was artist signed by Kaneko--Jim Kaneko.  The auction company which dispersed articles from a Jonesborough, Tennessee estate sold this piece at auction.  Jim Kaneko was a professor from American River College in California and often tooks breaks to come visit as a guest artist with IMS.  The auction company listed this piece as depicting a man in a racing car with unusual Japanese style glaze decoration.  The car was 9" in length and 4.5" high. 

Note the artist's signature--"Kaneko" on the bottom