Roycroft Vases Found by Valuable Arts-and-Crafts – Reading Eagle

Dear Helaine and Joe:

There is a 18 1/2 inch high Roycroft vase and a 6 inch diameter bowl. They have been in my wife’s family since 1924. We have the original invoice. The vase has never been polished and is in its original condition. What is the value?

—NM, San Jose, CA

Dear NM,

Elbert Hubbard was born in Bloomington, Illinois in 1856 and grew up in Hudson, Illinois. He was an American philosopher, writer, artist and publisher. And he called himself an anarchist and a socialist — neither is true in the strict sense of the word.

Hubbard’s work began well as a soap salesman at Larkin Thorpe in Buffalo, New York, but entered Harvard in 1892, dropped out and traveled to England. There, on a walking tour, he met William Morris and was fascinated by the Arts and Crafts Kelmscott Press, which was founded in 1891 at Morris’s home, Kelmscott Manor.

Returning to the United States, Hubbard sought out a publisher of biographical sketches titled “Little Journey,” but opened his own Roy Croft Press in East Aurora, New York. The name Roy Croft comes from the brothers Thomas and Samuel Roy Croft. It was an English printer from 1650-90. But it also meant the king’s craft, which belonged to the medieval guild and referred to the skilled craftsmen who made things for the king.

The printing ship was a huge success, began to attract visitors and then expanded. The hotel was built soon, which required furniture and lighting. Hubbard asked a local craftsman to create a simple, linear piece to suit the tastes of Arts-and-Crafts.

These were very popular and the industry was formed. Other craftsmen in the Roycroft community have made leather, bookbinding and metal products. The copper vase hammered in today’s question is called the “American Beauty” vase. The name is said to be derived from Rose, or the song “American Beauty Rug” composed by Joseph F. Lamb (1887-1960) in 1913.

The design was hired by Roycroft in 1912 and became chief designer and foreman at a metal store in Roycroft after a wage dispute between Elbert and Alice Hubbard, Karl Kip and Walter Jennings. It is due to the achievement of. During its construction, the Arts-and-Crafts Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina ordered a 21-inch high vase to be engraved with “GPI American Beauty Vase made exclusively for Grove Park Inn by Roycroft.” ..

Roycroft American Beauty Vase is available in approximately four sizes: 7 “, 12”, 18-19 1/2 “and 21-22”. There were some finishes, but the most common was dark aurora brown.

The 18-19 1/2 inch size is the most commonly found size in “American Beauty” copper vases, but this 1924 example should be valued in the $ 3,000 or higher range. Plus depends on many variables that cannot be fully explored from a single photo.

Helen Fendermann and Joe Rosson have written numerous books on antiques. Do you have any items you would like to know more about? Contact Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917 or send an email to treasures @ knology.net. If you want your question to be considered in their column, include high-resolution photos of the subject matter that should be focused on in your question.