Dear Helaine and Joe:
I have been trying for years to identify a dish I inherited from my mother. She always thought it was one of the more valuable pieces she owned. At the time, I never thought to ask her what she knew about it. She used it as a soap dish in the guest bathroom. I assume it is glazed porcelain, but I am not certain of that. The signature on the bottom of the piece is shown in one of the pictures I sent. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you,
T. S.
Dear T. S.:
Putting soap in a dish such as this one is not a great idea because it will hurt the gold finish that overlays the porcelain surface. The dish itself was probably made in Europe (Japan is also a slim possibility), but the gold embellishment was strictly made in America.
At the turn of the 20th century, the American arts and crafts movement was in full swing. A number of studios located in the Chicago area bought plain white porcelain from a number of makers — mainly in Europe — and then decorated them in an artistic manner that was keeping in with the times. Probably the leader in this type of business was the Pickard China Company, which went into business in a significant way in the late 1890s.
Around 1910, Pickard started producing etched gold wares that were influenced by Tiffany’s gilded bronze products. A pattern was actually etched into the body of the porcelain using hydrofluoric acid, and then the piece was given two coats of gold.
The name on the back of T. S.’s relish dish is “Osborne,” which was the anglicized first name of Asbjorn T. Olsen, who at some point anglicized his first name to “Osborne.” He was born in Illinois in 1884 and reportedly died in 1969.
It is not known when Olsen began decorating china, but he was in the profession by 1902. It has been suggested by some that Osborne got his training at Pickard, and some say he was even art director, but there is no real evidence of this. It is probable that he trained at one of the other Chicago china decorating firms such as Pitkin and Brooks, but the evidence is scant.
The Osborne Art Studio was founded in 1910, and the wares produced often resembled those made by Pickard and other Chicago china decorating firms. They are often identifiable only by the name “Osborne” signed on the front, or in the case of the gold-decorated items, inscribed on the back with the name “Osborne.”
But starting about 1914, some backstamps were used. Osborne Art Studio survived the Great Depression and even the death of its founder in 1969. The company was reportedly still producing gold-etched wares when the firm closed in 1973.
Unfortunately, the gold-etched wares are not popular with modern collectors, and even those made by Pickard often cannot find a home. They are very rich-looking, but an Osborne gold-etched relish would retail for an impoverished $20 to $35 on the current market.
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Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item you'd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Ave., Knoxville, TN 37917, or email them at treasures@knology.net. If you'd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.
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