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 

Drinking Vessels

There are different sizes of the vessels line of stoneware that Iron Mountain Stoneware created. There has been much confusion about their purpose and often they are all listed as being used for the same purpose--candlestick holders!  When you see these for sale on eBay or in antique stores, there were actually four sizes.  The largest was intended to be a water goblet, the next smaller size was for white wine, and the next for red wine.  The most shallow of the four was actually intended to be a candleholder--but the other three were for serving either water or wine.  Of course, you can use them for any purpose you wish and the catch-all name of vessels does not limit you to how you use them.  I took a photo of the four sizes today of random ones from my personal collection to help you see them when side-by-side.  Hope that helps some of you with identifying what you currently have or identify the ones you might wish to seek out.

l to r: Roan Mountain water goblet, Ice white wine, Blue Ridge red wine, Whispering Pines candleholder, Freedom Blue candleholder

Sally's Gift

Sally Patterson was the sister of Nancy Patterson Lamb and one of the three artists who worked in residence at Iron Mountain Stoneware while it was in existence and producing many pieces of stoneware for the kitchens and cooks of America.  Sally created many one-of-a-kind pieces which were beautiful and in the case of one which recently sold on Ebay, told a sometimes personal story about her life or that of her family.  This 14 inch platter was highly decorated and in the private collection of Nancy--so beautiful! According to Nancy's description, the platter illustrated "our family having a picnic in the back yard on a warm summer day." Note that in 1983 when the piece was created, it had a $400.00 price tag still adhered to the backside.

Scene from a family picnic

Signature, date and price

close up of the artist's detail

Merry Christmas Plates

The series of Christmas Plates, started in 1983, were a different design each year, and according to Nancy Pattern Lamb, they were usually painted by her, since each edition was limited. The back of the the blue and gray 6 inch plate, which appears to be inspired by Martha's Flowers, has the "M" signature that belongs to the artist, Mary Greer Suits . It bears the hand painted date 1985 on the back as well. The second Merry Christmas plate is the same size as the first and mimics the Over the Hills pattern of stoneware, but appears to have been done by Nancy Patterson Lamb as her initial is on the backside.
There were also "Happy Day" plates created in a variety of patterns.  The "M" which is often seen on the back of the hand-painted plates was Mary's initial.  There were various messages written on the plates--"Happy Birthday," "Happy Anniversary," "I Love You," "Thank You," "Congratulations, and "Happy Mother's Day."  Sometimes the plates had a personalized message painted on them too.

Merry Christmas, 1985

Merry Christmas, 1984

The Solid Cherry Inspiration

12" Chop Plate in a local collection 

When Nancy Patterson was asked about inspiration for the pattern, Solid Cherry, she smiled and told the following. I created this pattern because I remembered always going into antique stores and hearing the same statement from any of the dealers or salesmen no matter what type of wood their furniture was constructed from--"That's solid cherry Madam--solid cherry."  This pattern features ladderback chairs, round tables and sometimes a bowl holding cherries sitting on the top of the table.

Commemorative Plates

Closer view of plate center

11" Commemorative Plate

I am beginning to find a few commemorative plates both in antique shops and on the Internet. This image came from an online shop called Violettendenices.
According to Nancy Patterson Lamb, these special plates were created at the same time as Martha's Flowers for the American Bi-centennial year in 1976.  The 8 different Revolutionary images created on 11" dinner plates were called "Countrymen" and were patterned after the children's fortune telling rhyme (who will I become or marry in the future) from Great Britain: "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, Thief" The 12" platter and 14" platter had the soldier (George Washington) on them. Nancy described the images as being modeled with clay in three dimension. She then fired the models, inked the images with glaze onto them, and transferred those images to the stoneware.

Something New, Every Year

Everyday bowl from 1978

Nancy Patterson Lamb, former owner and creator of many of the patterns for Iron Mountain Stoneware created a new pattern each year for something which was called an Everyday Set.  This everyday set was limited in pieces and only included a plate (10"), a bowl, and a mug--just the three pieces with a different design every year.  The pattern was made for only one year and then a different pattern was brought forth each subsequent years. Each was different, yet of the two I've seen, they make lovely combinations when put together. The pieces of the stoneware had a design and a date on them to help identify them from one year to the next.