Hand-Painted Coffee Pot (Pink Dogwood Floral with Signed Inscription to Claudia), Mid-Century Art Ceramic 🌸✍️💖
This is a unique, one-of-a-kind hand-painted coffee pot from the Mid-Century Modern era, functioning as an authentic association piece.
The pot is classified as a top-shelf decorative art object, appealing to collectors who prioritize sentimental history and verifiable personal documentation.
Its value is secured by the verifiable handwritten dedication on the base from "Your boy Frank" to "Claudia", transforming the ceramic into a unique, personal artifact.
2. About the Artwork/Book/Object 📖✍️✨ The vessel is a tall, conical coffee or chocolate pot featuring a sleek, Mid-Century Modern silhouette. This shape is characterized by its dramatic height, low base, and a sharp, angular handle that embodies the functionalist design trends of the mid-20th century.
The central decoration is a hand-painted scene of pink dogwood blossoms and foliage, executed with loose, expressive brushstrokes against a pale yellow and blue background. The pot is finished with a gilded finial and an unusual amber-toned, gold-rimmed tip on the spout, adding a bespoke element of metallic glamour.
3. About the Artist/Author/Maker ✍️🏛️ The author of the artwork is known only by his inscription: "Frank," who created this piece as a personal gift for "Claudia". This object falls into the category of amateur or studio art ceramics, often referred to as "blanks" that were painted and customized outside of the major factory setting.
The piece itself is a product of a Mid-Century porcelain or ceramic manufacturer who produced the blank form. The quality of the hand-painting—the confident blending and shading of the pink dogwood—suggests that Frank was either a professional ceramic decorator or a highly skilled amateur artist. This pot serves as a direct historical record of the personal artistic output common in post-war American domestic culture.
4. Historical/Political Era Context 🌍🕰️📜 This coffee pot was created during the Mid-Century Era, circa 1940s–1960s, a period marked by the boom in American art and craft hobbies, particularly the painting of ceramic blanks.
The conical, sleek body shape is a clear artifact of the Mid-Century Modern design movement, which dominated architecture and furniture and heavily influenced decorative arts. The pot represents a moment when personal expression and customization were integrated into mass-produced items, allowing ordinary people to create unique, high-quality gifts of sentimental value. The object is a time capsule of post-war domestic life and the blending of industrial forms with romantic, hand-painted themes.
5. The Ideal Collector 💡🧐🏛️ This ceramic piece is an essential acquisition for a curator of Mid-Century Studio Ceramics, Vernacular Art, and Association Pieces.
It is ideally suited for a collector who specializes in documented, signed artifacts with sentimental history. The buyer appreciates the artistic merit of the dogwood painting and the verifiable emotional narrative established by the intimate inscription from Frank to Claudia, transforming the item into a unique historical keepsake.
6. Value & Rarity 💎✨🏛️ This is a unique, one-of-a-kind artwork from the Mid-Century era, making its Bibliographical Scarcity absolute due to the custom inscription. The pot is approximately 60 to 80 years old.
The value is secured entirely by the Signature/Inscription Premium and the Artistic Premium of the quality hand-painting. Its worth is tied to its status as a documented, personal artifact of mid-century American domestic culture and its visually arresting design.
7. Condition 🔎📚✨ The physical condition has been assessed directly from the provided high-resolution photography. The object is deemed to be in Excellent Vintage Condition, showing superior structural and aesthetic integrity.
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Structural Integrity: The tall body, angular handle, and slender spout are free of any chips, cracks, or visible crazing.
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Inscription: The handwritten dedication on the base is clear, legible, and intact.
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Painting Integrity: The hand-painted dogwood floral motif is vibrant and shows no discernible fading or flaking.
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Accents: The gilded finial and amber spout tip are fully intact.
8. Fun Facts & Unique Features 🤓📜🤩
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The Spout Tip: The unique addition of an amber-toned, gold-rimmed tip to the spout is a hallmark of personalized ceramic decoration, suggesting Frank customized even the smallest details of the pot.
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Mid-Century Silhouette: The conical, sleek profile of the pot is a signature of post-WWII functionalist design, valuing form and height over the ornate curves of previous eras.
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Dogwood Symbolism: The dogwood blossom is highly symbolic in Southern American culture, representing rebirth and spring, and is often used as a motif for sentimental gifts.
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The Personal Signature: The inscription "Your boy Frank" is a rare example of an intimate, affectionate signature that transforms the object from a decorative item into a tangible piece of private romantic history.
9. Supporting Information 🏷️📦💰
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Object Type: Hand-Painted Coffee/Chocolate Pot (Unique Association Piece)
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Title: Signed Mid-Century Coffee Pot (Pink Dogwood Motif)
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Artist/Maker: Attributed to "Frank" (Hand-Painted Decorator)
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Year/Period: Mid-Century Modern (Circa 1940s–1960s)
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Place of Origin: Unknown (Likely USA or European Blank)
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Materials: Glazed Porcelain/Ceramic, Overglaze Hand-Painting, Gilt Metal Accents
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Style: Conical, Hand-Painted Floral, Mid-Century Modern Silhouette
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Dimensions (Approximate): 10 inches tall (to finial)
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Verbatim Transcription (Inscription on Base): To Claudia / with / all my love and / gratitude ~ / Your boy / Frank