To continue on the subject about the Biloxi, Mississippi potter George E. Ohr (1857-1918), which I began to write about over the weekend, where I posted a link in one of the stories to an article that was written by David Rago for PBS' Antiques Roadshow website, titled, I Really Hated George Ohr. That story reads in part, "...I (Rago) started my auction company in 1984. It seemed like a good idea at the time, holding an auction focusing on Arts and Crafts–period ceramics and furniture. Seven months of eighty-hour workweeks culminated in my first sale, held at the Hilton Hotel near New Jersey’s Meadowlands in June of 1984, netting me only about $8,000. This, after putting my home in the balance. It was an unreserved auction. There were no telephone bids, no internet, no experience, no common sense. I swore that evening that I would never hold another auction as long as I lived. A dear friend and employee disabused me of that notion and I continued muddling along until my fourth sale, which was held in Manhattan. A consignor entrusted me with a decent-enough piece of Ohr, an early funnel-shaped vase with a ruffled rim and a murky brown glaze. To my astonishment, and probably everyone else’s in the room, the vase sold for several thousand dollars and established my humble auction as a place where such a thing could actually happen. The pace accelerated from there..."
Nevertheless, Rago Auctions in Lambertville, New Jersey sold the lifelong collection of Terry & Ralph Kovel today. Ralph Mallory Kovel (1920-2008) was an American author of 97 books and guides to antiques, that he co-authored with his wife, Terry Kovel (b. 1928). They also wrote a nationally syndicated collectibles column that began in 1955, which is still in production today.
Interestingly, among the articles that I posted about Ohr over the weekend was one from an account that was published in the The Boston Globe on April 30, 1896. It was written in that article that Ohr viewed his more embellished or artistic pottery as "freaks," and he refused to sell those works of art. However, those works were later acquired by James Carpenter, a barber and part-time antiques-dealer from New Jersey, who basically spearheaded the entire George Ohr movement within the twentieth century art pottery crowd in the Northeast, especially in New York City.
According to another article published on the television network PBS' website, titled, Who's James Carpenter? The Man Who Bought Ohr's Pottery, "In 1968 Carpenter and his wife had traveled south on a routine hunting expedition for antique cars and auto parts. Along the way, they encountered the Ohrs' Biloxi homestead and auto junkyard business — together with the family's vast inventory of eccentric, and very dusty, pottery, which had remained since Ohr shutdown his pottery business in the early 1900s. The sheer plenitude of Ohr's pottery still in storage there made a massive impression on the couple.
Seeing an opportunity, Carpenter made the Ohrs an offer for the whole lot, and although the Ohr brothers rebuffed his first and a few subsequent offers, they eventually settled on a price (somewhere in the vicinity of $100,000, according to Ohr family oral history). Carpenter personally hauled the cache of some 10,000 pieces of pottery — a motley assortment of masterpieces, knickknacks, and everything between — north to New Jersey, just on the outskirts of New York City.
David Rago says Carpenter deserves credit for patiently introducing Ohr's work into Manhattan's burgeoning art-pottery market during the 1970s and 1980s.
According to Rago, Carpenter not only rediscovered Ohr's pottery, he also had the shrewdness and courage to mortgage practically everything he owned to invest in it — "as well as the good fortune to live just an hour outside New York City." From there, he spent a lifetime methodically making good on one savvy gamble."
These objects that just sold today at Rago Auctions embody all of that which I just described, from creation to rediscovery, and then being at the forefront of the art pottery enthusiasts who really pushed these types of objects, beginning in the 1970s. And this is no more apparent publicly than when you visit the Americana Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, where you see the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection of Art Pottery on display; Ohr's work is included alongside some of the most outstanding objects made in America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Ellison also acquired his Ohr Pottery in similar ways as did the Kovels.
Furthermore, the 188 lot sale today included thirty-six objects that were made by George Ohr; many of these pieces could have been highlighted in this post, however I chose what I thought was the most prized object, an earthenware vase that features two ribbon handles, incised decoration to the body, and a pink glaze with sponged-on cobalt, orange, and raspberry glazes. There is also an impressed signature to that underside that reads, "G.E. Ohr Biloxi, Miss." The vase was also illustrated in the book, George Ohr: The Greatest Art Potter on Earth, whereas it sold today for $30,000 plus the buyer's premium. Here is a link to the auction catalog: https://www.ragoarts.com/auctions/2023/11/the-life-collection-of-terry-ralph-kovel.
Note: Here also is a link to an article that David Rago posted to his company's website describing his friendship with the Kovels and their collection of Ohr Potter: https://www.ragoarts.com/auctions/2023/11/the-life-collection-of-terry-ralph-kovel/155.
Museum-Quality Collection of George Ohr's Pottery
Circa 1897-1900 Earthenware Vase
Made by George E. Ohr in Biloxi, Mississippi
From the Collection of Terry & Ralph Kovel
Previously Owned by James Carpenter
Stands 8 3/4" Tall
The Base is Impressed "G.E. Ohr Biloxi, Miss."
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Rago Auctions
A View of the Base
The Base is Impressed "G.E. Ohr Biloxi, Miss."
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Rago Auctions
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
