The Valuable Vintage Pottery You Should Never Pass Up At The Thrift Store

Part of the fun of visiting thrift stores is that you never know what you might find. Sure, there are some items that seem questionable, but then there are others that are quirky, fun, or possibly even valuable. Pottery is one of those thrift-store categories that runs the gamut from nearly awful to entirely amazing, based on its design and possibly its creator. McCartys pottery that shows up in a thrift store could be worth hundreds of dollars in some instances. It's absolutely worth inspecting handmade pottery items you come across to see if it belongs somewhere better than the shelves of a resale shop. There's a chance you might find valuable pottery at estate sales, too. 

McCartys Pottery, which is still in operation, began in the 1950s when husband and wife Lee and Pup McCarty opened their pottery studio in Mississippi. Their work is loosely connected to William Faulkner, as he let them harvest clay from a ravine near his home in Oxford, Mississippi. Most of their finished pottery pieces have interesting makers' marks on them, as well as signature glaze colors that make their pieces somewhat identifiable. 

The McCartys didn't just stick with one theme when making their pottery. These pieces could be anything, ranging from functional works such as dishes, planters, and bowls, to interesting sculptural pieces simply meant for display. Depending on how your local thrift stores are set up, this means you might find McCarty pottery in the kitchenware aisle or wherever sculptural works are displayed. No matter what you find, though it will almost always have "McCartys" on the bottom. The name looks as though it was cut in with a clay tool before the clay was fired in a kiln. Some pieces also say "Merigold Miss" along with the name, as this is the home of their studio. A squiggly black line representing the Mississippi River is also on many of their functional pieces. 

Since the McCartys created their own glazes, certain colors may help identify a McCarty piece at a thrift store. The glaze may be a dark green, a deep blue, or a nutmeg-infused color that ranges from a light-brownish tone to a warm yellow. To determine value, look at comparable sold pieces on online auction and collectibles websites. The value of anything collectible is a relative thing; trends come and go, so the real value is whatever someone is willing to pay for a piece. Even for new pieces, handmade ceramics cost a lot because of the time and cost invested in making them. While you're out thrifting, look for these valuable ceramic planters, too. You never know when a treasure may be sitting right there on the store shelves.