Vintage 60's Red Wing Pottery Blue/Green Chromoline Vase  #674  10" tall - RARE

Description

It is 10" tall; base is 3.5" in diameter; top of vase is 5" in diameter.  It is in excellent condition - there is one small chip on the bottom of the vase, which is very tough to see when the vase is standing, unless looking very closely (see last 2 photos).
This Article was published on : Collecting Stuff.com
Credit to be Given to:
Ron Linde who is a member of the Red Wing Collectors Society
.
Posted by The Boss on August 26, 2011 in  Collecting NEWs
Brought to you by: PriceMiner and Worthpoint
Red Wing designer Charles Murphy worked during the post-World War II period from around 1948 to 1964 often described as the Eames Era of Modern Design. Artists of the time often portrayed a vision of the future in sweeping lines and shapes with bold, distinctive styling. This era was named for husband and wife furniture designers Charles and Ray Eames, who believed well-designed goods should be available to all. Stylings of the Eames Era were apparent in period architecture, automobiles, lighting, household appliances, and yes, pottery. Murphy’s Chromoline hand-painted art pottery is one such example.
Murphy usually used one glaze color to cover his art pottery designs, but not so with this line. These labor-intensive pieces were decorated with circular bands of various glaze colors. Murphy’s distinctive line first appeared in the Red Wing Art Pottery Catalog in the fall 1960. Back then, all 15 shapes from the Chromoline hand-painted line could be purchased for a combined $ 78, but today you’re lucky to find one piece at that price. Each of the 15 shapes also appeared in the Red Wing art pottery catalogs in the spring and fall of 1961.
Almost all pieces of Red Wing art pottery are marked on the bottom with a shape number. Chromaline is no exception. Shapes 671-687 includes covered candy dishes, vases, compotes, candlesticks and ash trays. In addition to these items, a tall, 16-inch bottle vase (M3006 or 3006) provided a great surface for the circular bands.
Shapes not included in this sequence of decorated Chromoline items are shape numbers 677, 679 and 683. Shape 677 is a longstanding flower pot shape, shape 679 is a tall vase and shape 683 is currently not known.  The  Schleich Red Wing Museum in Lincoln, Neb. displays one unusual Chromoline item in the blue and yellow glaze. Likely a trial piece, it’s shaped like the 687 vase, but at just a shade taller than 18 inches, it’s more than three inches taller and has no shape number.
The smooth surfaces used on this line were glazed with vivid colors. The Red Wing art pottery catalogs listed the Chromoline hand-painted shapes as available in the following colors only: 502 rust & green, 503 blue & yellow. The Schleich Museum has an experimental 3006 vase in gray, pink and rust glazes and another experimental 3006 vase exists in blue and pink glazes.
During an interview before his death in 1994, Murphy described the line: “Before firing, the pieces were spun on a wheel, and as they were spun, the decorator would hold a brush laden with glaze to create a ring on these pieces. This process was repeated many times.”
The time required for producing each piece and the increasing competition from foreign competition likely contributed to limited Chromoline production. After only one year of production, the line is not shown in any other Red Wing catalogs, although Chromoline shapes (with the exception of the ash trays and bowls) were done in solid glaze colors and placed in the Stereoline grouping for one listing in the Red Wing Art Pottery Catalog, Spring 1962.
With his use of bold circles of color on modernist shapes, designer Charles Murphy’s impressive Chromoline hand-painted line embodied the designs and stylings of the Eames Era.
Ron Linde is a member of the Red Wing Collectors Society
.