It is Art Deco in design, owing to its classic art deco shaped handle and stands 5.5 inches tall and measures approximately 10 inches tip to tip. The handle and spout are gilded with some areas of loss due to use. The top and lid are also complemented with a gilded design. Please refer to photos to view minor areas of gold wear. There are no chips or cracks and the interior is free from stain. This elegant pot still retains its original sheen and is a great find for any collector as the Fraunfelter China Company was a very important factory, historically, in this country and were only in business from 1923 to 1939. Please see some of the history below.
HISTORY
Reprinted in part from The Zanesville Times Recorder by columnist Lewis LeMaster
In 1915, Fraunfelter and his associates bought the Ohio Pottery Company plant in the Brighton area. The May 29 issue of the Zanesville Signal announced that the plant had been sold to a group of men from Zanesville and Youngstown. Besides Fraunfelter, they were Dr. H.R. Geyer, Ira B. Mackey, Hugh H. Hamilton and H. A. Ernest.
According to local historian, Norris F. Schneider, “To supervise production, the new owners of the Ohio Pottery Company in 1915 secured the services of John Herold. He was born in 1871 in Carlsbad, Austria, and trained as a decorator of china and glass,” the 1962 article stated.
When the new owners took over the plant on Dearborn Street they continued to produce kitchen ware made from local stoneware clay. However, eventually stoneware sales dropped, so in 1918 the company began making restaurant and cooking ware. About 1922 the company produced Petroscan ware. Thus, Fraunfelter is credited with making the first hard porcelain manufactured in the United States.
According to Mr. Schneider, “During World War I the company treasurer, Dr. Harry R. Geyer, heard from his first cousin, Col. Reasoner Geyer, that the medical departments of the armed services were having trouble in securing fired porcelain products formerly secured from Berlin and Copenhagen. The Ohio Pottery Company, with John Herold’s experience and ability, started to manufacture fire proof chemical laboratory ware neutral to acids and alkalis and capable of withstanding heat.” (TR, 1-21-1962).
In 1923 the Fraunfelter China Company was formed from the American China Products Company of Chesterton, Indiana, and the Ohio Pottery Company. Fraunfelter was the president, Dr. H.R. Geyer the treasurer, and Fraunfelter’s son, George, the secretary.
The founder of the company died on Dec. 26, 1926.
A few years after his death the Fraunfelter China Company filled a special order. The explorer Richard E. Byrd came to Zanesville for a speaking engagement. According to Norris Schneider, an article in 1962 stated “(Byrd) was looking for a set of dishes that would withstand the extremes of heat and cold to which it would be subjected at Little America (in Antarctica). The explorer heard of the local china company and spent several hours at the plant discussing his needs.
"George Fraunfelter recalls that he made the set and donated it to the Byrd expedition. The plates contain pictures in blue of the two ships, City of New York and Bear of Oakland, and Byrd’s plane and a sled dog. Fraunfelter kept one plate of the set.”