Blue Ridge China
"Rehobeth" Pattern by Blue Ridge China
Blue Ridge China was produced from the mid-thirties to the late-fifties. At one time it was the largest market for American dinnerware in the USA. Blue Ridge was sold in fancy stores like Marshall Field’s in Chicago, and by mail order from Sears and Montgomery Wards catalogs. The dinnerware was given away at movie theatres, grocery stores, and furniture stores; it was also redeemable with S&H Green Stamps.
Blue Ridge China was produced in the small eastern Tennessee town of Erwin. Young ladies, some as young as fifteen, came down from the mountains to be trained as painters at the pottery. Men were taught how to mold the shapes and do the firing. Some of the young ladies were so talented that they were allowed to paint what are called Artists Signed Plates. The production painting team sat in hard chairs around a table and painted for many hours each day. One might paint a flower on the bisque plate while another would add a stem and leaves. A third might paint an edge around the plate, and so on until the plate was finished and put in the stack to be fired and glazed. The slight differences found in patterns makes collecting Blue Ridge so much fun. Hand-painting is an art to be admired and collected. ( courtesy of Frances Ruffin, for more information visit www.blueridgechina.com ).
Blue Ridge China was produced in the small eastern Tennessee town of Erwin. Young ladies, some as young as fifteen, came down from the mountains to be trained as painters at the pottery. Men were taught how to mold the shapes and do the firing. Some of the young ladies were so talented that they were allowed to paint what are called Artists Signed Plates. The production painting team sat in hard chairs around a table and painted for many hours each day. One might paint a flower on the bisque plate while another would add a stem and leaves. A third might paint an edge around the plate, and so on until the plate was finished and put in the stack to be fired and glazed. The slight differences found in patterns makes collecting Blue Ridge so much fun. Hand-painting is an art to be admired and collected. ( courtesy of Frances Ruffin, for more information visit www.blueridgechina.com ).
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