Here at last is a thorough guide of the most collected dinnerware. In one volume this book provides an excellent survey of the best companies and their most popular lines. The important California companies, including the Wallace China Company, Catalina Pottery, B.J. Brock & Co., and Gladding, McBean & Co. along with other companies nationwide including the Crooksville Art Pottery Co., Frankoma, and the Hall China Company, are among the many potteries represented. The contributions of famous designers such as Ben Seibel, Russel Wright, Eva Zeisel, and Sascha Brastoff are explored. Extensive research has uncovered new information on many of the companies and designers. Over 300 clear photos, extracts from catalogs and advertisements, historical photos, and a well-documented text will help to identify dinnerware, to trace changing technological and design trends, and to showcase an industry in its heyday. As the journey to uncover and identify all the American produced dinnerware from the twentieth century continues, this book serves as an important milestone and an important reference.

Author: Jo Cunningham
Hardcover:  190 pages
Company: Schiffer Publishing  (1999-05)
ISBN: 0764308173
List Price: $29.95
Amazon Price: $27.21
Used Price: $6.86

Author: Eldon R Aupperle
Unknown Binding:  112 pages
Company: E.R. Aupperle  (1996)
List Price: 
Amazon Price: $18.00
Used Price: $14.95

Over 500 beautiful color photographs and an informative, succinct text provide a sweeping overview of stunning modern tableware designs. This book presents manufacturers both familiar and less known that revolutionized dining in the mid-twentieth century. Among the pottery firms whose wares are presented are Red Wing, Roseville, Royal China, Salem China, Stangl, Steubenville, Universal, Vernon Kilns, Winart Pottery, and Winfield China. A great deal of new information about the wares displayed may be found within these pages. Additionally, useful information concerning pricing and condition of ceramics is included, along with an extensive bibliography and index. Values may be found in the captions. While this book stands alone, it is also a companion volume to Mid-Century Modern Dinnerware, A Pictorial Guide: Ak-Sar-Ben to Paden City Pottery. This volume will be a valued addition to anyone entranced by fine ceramic design.

Author: Michael E. Pratt
Hardcover:  224 pages
Company: Schiffer Publishing  (2003-08-30)
ISBN: 0764319140
List Price: $39.95
Amazon Price: $26.37
Used Price: $30.00

The new second edition of the "Johnson Brothers Dinnerware Pattern Directory & Price Guide" replaces the original text of the same title. The new edition is virtually twice the size of the first edition with an increase in both the number of patterns and the text. It is again soft cover with a special more durable binding.

Altogether, over twenty years of collecting and research, both in the United States and in England, have gone into the development of this book. In the pattern section over 360 patterns are identified and shown in full color. The book also contains a brief history of ceramics and the manufacturing techniques used by Johnson Brothers and other dinnerware manufacturers. An added chapter presents some historical background and motivation on the "Historic America: and "Old Britain Castles" patterns.

To date, this book is the most complete work on the Johnson Brothers Company and its wares. In all, there are over 560 color photographs and a number of informative sections detailing backstamps, styles, coloring, and the variety of pieces and items produced.

Author: Mary J. Finegan
Paperback:  170 pages
Company: Marfine Antiques  (2002-10)
ISBN: 0963868926
List Price: 
Amazon Price: $25.00
Used Price: $43.66

California-based Gladding, McBean & Co. began producing Franciscan dinnerware in the 1930s. Their introduction of Franciscan Apple in 1940 heralded a new product line featuring heavily sculpted, embossed dinnerware hand-decorated in brilliant colors. Desert Rose, introduced a year later, became the top selling dinnerware pattern in the world. Many additional patterns were produced through 1984, when the Franciscan plant in Glendale, California was closed. This comprehensive guide focuses solely on Franciscan hand-decorated embossed dinnerware manufactured in the United States and includes Apple, Desert Rose (and its three variations), Wild Flowers, Ivy, Fruit, California Poppy, October, Forget-Me-Not, Strawberry Fair, Strawberry Time, Fresh Fruit, Bountiful, Rosette, and Bouquet. Over 430 color photos illustrate these highly collectible pieces while the captions provide values, sizes, and other information for each pattern. An extensive company history and detailed shape listings are included. This is the complete reference for collectors of Franciscan hand-painted embossed dinnerware.

Author: James F. Elliot-Bishop
Hardcover:  176 pages
Company: Schiffer Publishing  (2004-08-30)
ISBN: 0764319868
List Price: $34.95
Amazon Price: $22.95
Used Price: $42.82

Bob & Sharon Huxford The authors of our popular Roseville Pottery and McCoy Pottery books are back with a new edition of their bestselling guide to Fiesta ware. This book showcases over 1,000 colorful pieces of Fiesta and features the colors and shapes of the 'post-86' line as well. There are more than 50 new photos, including some rare, never-before-seen pieces. The popular Harlequin, Riviera, and Kitchen Kraft lines are also featured. Kenilworth, a line which has not been included in previous editions, and striped Fiesta are both well documented this time, and the Art China section has been expanded and will include many wonderful new photos of this early line. The authors have also included experimental items from the Homer Laughlin morgue, as well as the historical information so many collectors crave. Finally, current values are addressed and changes have been made to better reflect today's market on both the vintage and post-86 lines.

Author: Bob Huxford, Sharon Huxford
Hardcover:  272 pages
Company: Collector Books  (2005-04)
ISBN: 1574324373
List Price: $24.95
Amazon Price: $5.99
Used Price: $4.99

Jo Cunningham Jo Cunningham is back with an all-new, revised edition of her bestselling Collector's Encyclopedia of American Dinnerware. In this collector's encyclopedia, hundreds of pieces of American dinnerware are illustrated with both color photos and black and white original catalog pages and advertisements. Included are backstamps, advertising, company information, and values for every piece. There is also a fascinating section on how dinnerware is made and a brief history of the American pottery industry. There is expanded coverage of some company histories. Some of the manufacturers represented include Bennington, California Potteries, Haeger, Hall, Hull, Pfaltzgraff, Purinton, Red Wing, Shawnee, Stangl, Steubenville, Homer Laughlin, Limoges, Paden City Pottery, Jackson China, and many more.

Author: Jo Cunningham
Hardcover:  319 pages
Company: Collector Books  (2005-05-15)
ISBN: 1574324292
List Price: $29.95
Amazon Price: $9.84
Used Price: $7.65

A LAVISH, FULL-COLOR, FIRST-EVER PICTORIAL TOUR OF THE TOP 500 DINNERWARE PATTERNS OF THE 20TH CENTURY

If collecting and displaying fine china are part of your passion for gracious living, here is the only book you will ever need! Beautifully illustrated throughout with digitally reproduced full-color photographs, this lovely volume is conveniently arranged alphabetically--first by dinnerware manufacturer and then by the pattern name. Combined with short histories of each manufacturer, listings of every known piece, vital date information on when the pattern was introduced and/or discontinued, and an appendix that ranks the top 500 patterns, Dinnerware in the 20th Century will earn a welcome place at any table!

Highlights include articles on the popularity of certain patterns, feature stories on designers, behind-the-style looks at particular patterns, and much more!

AND BE SURE NOT TO MISS . . .

Stemware in the 20th Century:
The Top 200 Patterns

Silverware in the 20th Century:
The Top 250 Patterns

HOUSE OF COLLECTIBLES
Serving collectors for more than thirty-five years

Author: Harry L. Rinker
Paperback:  320 pages
Company: House of Collectibles  (1997-10-15) (1997-10-15)
ISBN: 0676600859
List Price: $29.95
Amazon Price: $34.95
Used Price: $12.21

Blue and white ironstone dinnerware has been collected for many years, and the introduction of the Liberty Blue pattern in 1975 by Enoch Wedgwood of England, with its fifteen different historic scenes of colonial America, brought forth keen interest. Here the Old North Church, Minutemen, West Point, Independence Hall, Mount Vernon, and many more historic sites are shown. The Liberty Blue promotion coincided with America's Bicentennial celebrations, causing more people to become interested in owning a set for themselves. Color photographs beautifully illustrate all the pieces in a complete set, and interesting facts are given about each historic scene. Updated prices are included in the captions and the associated glassware and ceramic pieces are carefully described. Original advertisements and brochures are included to provide extensive accurate information. This is the first book about Liberty Blue dinnerware and is sure to become a valuable reference guide for collectors trying to build a complete set.

Author: Debbie Coe, Randy Coe
Paperback:  128 pages
Company: Schiffer Publishing  (2006-06-30)
ISBN: 0764324713
List Price: $14.95
Amazon Price: $10.00
Used Price: $11.99

This book lists nearly all of Stangls dinnerware patterns and dinnerware-related items in the order in which they were introduced. All available production details and history are also included. Over 500 colour photos of dinnerware patterns add to the thoroughness of this colourful book.

Author: Robert C., Jr. Runge
Hardcover:  320 pages
Company: Collector Books  (1999-11)
ISBN: 1574321528
List Price: $24.95
Amazon Price: 
Used Price: $31.82