The Pottery Niche offers a wide variety of Polish pottery at affordable prices

  • y Tricia Flickinger
  • December 14, 2010
  • 285
                        
Throughout life, many people come to be collectors of a certain type of item and try to collect as much of that item as they can and Eleanor Gray, owner of The Pottery Niche, is no different. She has become a collector of a very special type of item and she wants other people to be able to collect it as well. When Gray’s daughter was stationed in Germany on an Army base just 18 years ago, she introduced Gray to Polish pottery when she purchased a piece at a local bizarre. “When my daughter went to Germany, that’s when we were first introduced to this pottery,” Gray said. “She had some pieces that she was using and I was just overwhelmed with it, I guess. They had bizarres on base, so there was someone there selling it from Europe.” Gray noted that the military wives were the ones to bring the pottery to the United States and that some of her suppliers used to be in the military and are now retired and wholesaling this Polish pottery. When Gray retired seven years ago, she opened up The Pottery Niche, so that people could purchase this beautiful stoneware, too. She just loved the pottery so much, she wanted to sell it to other people. “It’s really beautiful stoneware,” she said. “It has such a beautiful glaze on it. It’s also very scratch resistant and it doesn’t chip easily like a lot of other stoneware here in the states.” The pottery inside The Pottery Niche comes from the Polish village of Boleslawiec. Pottery from this area dates back to the 16th century and was crafted in the Renaissance style, but years later the style was changed and the decoration was put under a glaze with patterns similar to the Polish pottery of today. The village, once part of Germany, sits on the Southwestern border of Poland. This beautiful stoneware is created from white clay and is lead-free, as well as cadmium-free. It comes in many different styles and patterns and a lot of the patterns are available at The Pottery Niche. Despite the size of the shop, Gray offers a wide variety of plates, bowls, cups, bakeware, cutting boards, teapots and much more. “The factories come out with different patterns every year and new shapes, so I keep adding new stuff and patterns that sell really well,” Gray said. “Over the past 7 years, I know what patterns are really popular and I try to keep those in stock as well, but I also keep adding new things.” Gray also offers a wide variety of unikat or unique pieces. These pieces are rare and come in many different intricate designs. The artists usually sign the bottom of these pieces. “The artists usually sign the pieces that are really intricate and that’s how the pricing is too,” Gray said. “The simple pieces are cheaper than the more intricate pieces.” The original designs of this stoneware were inspired by the ‘eye’ of the peacock, which created a statement of strength and beauty by the farmers. The colors in this pottery are largely cobalt blue, peacock blue, and earth tones. Gray said that this color scheme holds true, even in a piece of stoneware that is made with largely green tones. “ They just add blue to everything,” Gray said. “Even a lot of their green pieces will have touches of blue in it.” Even if all the pieces seem to have the same color scheme, but a different pattern, that can be advantageous sometimes. Since the color scheme is all the same, pieces can be mixed with different patterns and they would compliment each other. “That’s what most ladies do,” Gray said. “They’ll choose a different pattern for each of their place settings and some even mix it within the place setting, because it all compliments. They have different designs, but the coloring is the same. It’s really funny because there are about eight or nine different factories and they all use the same coloring, so you can match pieces from the different factories too, as far as the color is concerned.” Since Gray loves this stoneware so much and even uses it at home everyday, she doesn’t think she will ever sell a different type of stoneware besides this Polish pottery. “ I’ve been doing fairly well with it and I like it so much myself. We use it everyday, it’s our dinnerware and it just really holds up well. It goes in the dishwasher and comes out looking like it did when I bought it. I’ve been very busy selling it, because once people get one piece of it, they’ll be back for more because it’s really nice stoneware. It bakes beautifully, cleans easily and it’s just the folk-art, it’s all hand painted.” The Pottery Niche is the largest supplier of this stoneware in the area with affordable prices. “ If you go online or to any other shops, it costs quite a bit more than what I sell it for,” Gray said. The Pottery Niche is located at 3371 Township Road 154, a mile off SR 557 south of Berlin, near Charm, Ohio. Hours of operation are Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by calling 330-893-2694, appointments can be made for other times.


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