This is the twentieth century sewer tile vase that I wrote about this morning; I have learned a lot more information about its production thanks to Long Island museum specialist Gary Hammond and Illinois collector Janet Eke. Inscribed on the bottom is "Marie Funk / Dec. 21, 1935 / Carl Funk."
Carl Elton Funk (1913-2005) was born in Akron, Ohio on February 26, 1913. His first wife Marie Funk was born in 1918; they divorced March 27, 1947, although, he married a second time in 1951 to Vera Genevee Parsons (1919-2011), who he married on January 20, 1951. He worked at the Maurice Knight Chemical Stoneware Plant in Ohio, very likely starting there in the late 1920s or early 1930s (which is where this piece was certainly made). Later in life, he was a gospel singer on television and radio in Louisville, Ohio. He is buried next to his second wife in Forte Meade, Florida.
Gary Hammond notified me this morning that Carl Funk's occupation is listed in the 1940 United States Federal Census as an "Ovens Tender, Clay Factory." It would seem that he began in the pottery industry at a young age seeing that his highest level of education achieved was eighth grade. His father Howard Thurlow Funk (born July 25, 1881) was also a German potter working in Akron, listed as a "maker of chemical stoneware."
The Maurice Knight Chemical Stoneware Plant was established in 1910, and the company was the first United States maker of acid-resistant ceramics that could be used in chemical processing. Among the products manufactured were huge ceramic urns used to move corrosive liquids before tanker trucks and rail cars were developed to transport acids. In the 1920s, a typical large container used to treat acid and convert sulfur dioxide would have been five feet in diameter and 20 to 25 feet tall.There are pictures that survive today from the World War II period showing this factory's clay workers surrounding some of these giant urns. And there is even at least one photograph of a young Carl Funk taken around the time that this vase made (I will try to get permission to post the picture at another time).
However, the inscription is what makes this piece so special, showing that this was undoubtedly a piece manufactured in Carl Funk's downtime, possibly at lunch or at the end-of-the-day. I suspect that because of the December date that this was likely a Christmas present made by Carl Funk for his first wife Marie in 1935. Rarely is there any pottery that survives today that can be connected with such a special meaning; this is a hand thrown vase adorned in applied birds, flowers and leaves, as well as molded handles. There is other whimsical sewer tile pieces that survive from Funk today, but I have not seen anything that would indicate there is other pottery known where these same type of applied decorations were used. These may have been special decorations that Carl Funk created just for this piece that he very likely gave to his first wife as a Christmas present, possibly when they were newlyweds, seeing that when this piece was created he was only 22 and she was just 17 years old.
Note: The signature found on this piece matches other lunchtime or end-of-the day pieces known from Carl Funk who is listed as a sewer tile potter in Jack Adamson's 1972 book, Illustrated Handbook of Ohio Sewer Pipe Folk Art.
Sewer Tile Vase Likely Made as a Christmas Present in Akron, Ohio
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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