“What is this worth?”

“How old is this crock?”

“Where is this from?”

The questions we receive about our historic pottery never end! To be honest, it kind of keeps us going. How many times can a person talk about old pottery and still keep up the excitement and interest? Well, turns out, the number does not exist. Every day we encounter amazing folks who are excited to tell us about their connections to the items made in the Historic Clay District, and we LOVE it.

Goodbye dear Susan, we’ll miss you!

These questions always get forwarded on to our Collections Manager, keeper of the historic knowledge, lover of ceramics, the lady with all the answers, Susan McKinnon. Sadly (for us, amazing for her!), Susan has moved on to pursue her Post Graduate Certificate in Conservation, and her wonderful replacement will not be joining us until later this year. That means that we won’t have all of your answers quite yet, and replies to object inquiries won’t resume until early 2022.

In the mean time, we have created this guide for you to hopefully find some of the answers to your most commonly asked questions. We hope it is beneficial for all you historic pottery fanatics! We oftentimes use these resources ourselves.

Online Collection

Starting off the list is the best resource of all – our own Online Collections Database. While not our entire collection is on here, there are (as of writing this blog) 898 objects. It’s a great jumping off point and if you’re lucky, your object will be available. Information that is included as much as possible are the object name, images, production year range, catalogue number, description, manufacturer, ceramic technique, dimensions, material, and makers mark. The Alberta Museums Association makes this resource possible.

Identify Medalta Stamps and Markings

This handy book created by Ronald Getty and Ester Klaiman is for sale in our gift shop, but it is ALSO available for free to do your own stamp sleuthing. Figuring out what type of stamp is on your pottery is the number one way we are able to estimate an age for the object. This publication is a wealth of useful information, from stamp types, typical locations, years used, and some great educated guesses on how/why certain markings were used.

Ron Getty’s Website

This handy book created by Ronald Getty and Ester Klaiman is for sale in our gift shop, but it is ALSO available for free to do your own stamp sleuthing. Figuring out what type of stamp is on your pottery is the number one way we are able to estimate an age for the object. This publication is a wealth of useful information, from stamp types, typical locations, years used, and some great educated guesses on how/why certain markings were used.

Want to know how much your pottery is worth? That’s one question we can’t answer.

In accordance with the International Council of Museums Code of Ethics, we are unable to provide appraisal services to the public. Estimates of value are performed by an appraiser. You can find an appraiser in the yellow pages of the phone book or through a member of the Canadian Antique Dealers Association.