Vintage Mount Clemens Pottery Co Floral Gravy Boat with Embossed Detailing

{HISTORY}

Vintage gravy boats are always exciting.

Whether they are coming round your way at the table full of roast turkey juices or you are repurposing them for another use entirely, they are one of the most creative vessels in the vintage dishware world.

In addition to their traditional purposes, gravy boats are excellent holders for lots of other things in the kitchen from foodstuffs at a cocktail party to plants for your indoor herb garden. Since they contain so much personality and are often comprised of quirky shapes, they look fantastic in group settings, but also are quite stately all on their own. 

This vintage floral gravy boat with its scalloped rim and petite floral bouquets was made by Mount Clemens Pottery in Mount Clemens, Michigan.  Featuring pink, white, and blue flowers, embossed detailing, a decorated handle, and a platinum stripe, there's lots to appreciate when it comes to the craftsmanship of this hard-to-find pattern. 

Colors include pale pink, lemon, mint, raspberry, mint, periwinkle, pale grey, and spring green against a light background with silver striping. A lot of Mount Clemens dishware was unmarked as to pattern names and dates of manufacture, so we are left to guess that this ceramic dish was made sometime between the 1930s and 1950s. 

Mount Clemens was always known for its beautiful dishes, but they had a bit of a complicated past. when it came to their workers.  In an effort to bring industry to an economically struggling area of Michigan during World War I, a local business association studied the pottery industry in Pennsylvania and Ohio in order to learn a new trade that would supply jobs and commerce to the state. Post-research, Mount Clemens Pottery was born and prosperity and growth followed shortly after.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Mount Clemens manufactured beautiful dishware but in the 1940s,  the pottery faced a lawsuit from its workers over wage disputes. The lawsuit made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the case was eventually overruled, but workers did manage to push for and win a small amount of back wages owed to them by the company as a result of their efforts. This particular case is still cited in workers' compensation suits and continues to inspire people to fight for equitable work environments for all. 

Mount Clemens Pottery closed down in the mid-1980s, and though they may no longer be in operation, the spirit and the story of equality and all it stands for lives on in this pretty dish.  

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Hard-to-find piece in a hard-to-find pattern

- Unmarked on bottom

{CONDITION}

In beautiful vintage condition, this gravy boat contains no chips, cracks, spots or staining. There is some very light rubbing on the silver stripe in some spots. Please see photos.

{SIZE}

Measures 8" inches (length) x 3.5" inches (width) x 3" inches (height) and weighs 10 oz.