Description
This vintage (c 1970’s) pottery elephant from USA is $309 AUD- equivalent to about $200 USD.
LOCATION– BRISBANE, Australia but this can be posted worldwide at cost price plus AU$3 – $4 for careful / thorough packaging.
Background Info and Provenance
(Written- late 2022)
A VINTAGE Freeman McFarlin elephant made in USA in the early-1970’s. This is a genuine VINTAGE piece made by hand. Freeman McFarlin was founded by Gerald McFarlin and Maynard Anthony Freeman in the 1927 and operated McFarlin Potteries in El Monte California. Gerald McFarlin was the businessman of the duo and Maynard Anthony Freeman was responsible for completely reinventing their line, changing it from mostly small animal figurines to very large figurines that were sculpted with great detail, movement, and expression. Some of their later designs in the 1960’s and 1970’s were stunning- this elephant is one of those.
In the late-1960’s, McFarlin sold his interest in the company and Freeman sold the remainder of the company to International Multifoods in 1972. The El Monte factory closed permanently in 1975 and operations were consolidated at the San Marcos plant. In 1980 Hagen-Renaker bought the San Marcos plant and acquired all of the Freeman-McFarlin Pottery operations. Hagen-Renaker continued to use many of Freeman McFarlin designs to make figurines until the factory closed in 1986.
This design in orange is very rare. I’ve never seen another orange one before (not even in a photo). I love the shape (trunk up for prosperity too!) and the vibrant colouring contrasting with the textured, unglazed section in the middle. This piece draws you in immediately and would nestle brilliantly in a retro-inspired interior.
This is also a very smart investment. Try finding another one in orange! The mould was made by hand, the piece was hand-painted and marked to the foot by hand which also verifies it’s history and provenance. This 1970’s Freeman McFarlin would make the perfect gift for someone who loves retro collectables and is impossible to buy for!
The real beauty of owning vintage pottery is knowing your piece won’t be in vogue for a season or even a couple of years before ending up as landfill. The hand-made quality of this 50+ year-old piece draws people in- the heart and soul found in these pieces will continue to charm people regardless of era, age and background. This Freeman McFarlin piece has survived about 50 years already- vintage pottery (particularly those in emotive stylised shapes) is more popular than ever and has increased in value noticeably since the COVID pandemic. There are very few better ways to invest in your home and reduce your carbon footprint.
2210.4
This Freeman McFarlin piece is in excellent vintage condition. It has NO chips, NO cracks, NO repairs, NO knocks, NOTHING that warrants a mention. The piece is signed to the underside. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Measurements. Length- 20cm. Height- 14.5cm. Weight- 413 grams. Read our 1200+ ebay feedback comments to be assured that we strive to describe all our items accurately (ALL our feedback spanning 20+ years are POSITIVE and virtually ALL are for vintage SALES). Ebay feedback can only be left by legitimate PAYING customers so can not be forged like other online review systems. (One of the only things ebay actually did right!)
PICK-UP . . . near BRISBANE city is accepted but postage is preferred. Pick-up in person must be worked out prior to purchase- thank you. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE is offered internationally. All our Decorative Arts pieces are delivered through AUSTRALIA POST. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE ESTIMATES. . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To BRISBANE- most of our pieces cost $15 - $18 to send. . . To SYDNEY or MELBOURNE- Small Vase- around $20 - $23, Medium Vase- around $20 - $25, Large Vase- around $24 - $30. Let us know if you need an EXACT COST for postage prior to purchase. The above postage estimates include $2.95 for a signature on delivery. . . INSURANCE against being lost or broken in transit up to the value of $200 is included in the estimates above. If your piece is cheaper or more expensive than $200 this will effect your postage fee slightly. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A BOXING FEE of $3.00 - $5.00 is included in the fee above to cover the cost of searching for and storing used packing materials. With the millions of cardboard boxes that end up as landfill every year we don’t believe in supporting the manufacture of boxes for post. Instead of buying new boxes and packing materials and passing this cost onto our customers we spend considerable time sourcing used boxes and then fashioning boxes to fit each item. We do the same for bubble-wrap and foam pieces. This requires a large investment of time, energy, ingenuity, organization and storage space- it is much easier and cheaper to buy new packing materials but I can’t justify taking the easy way out when so much packing material ends up polluting our earth. Our nominal charge does little to pay for the time (and storage) needed do this and to pack your item (there is also the time needed to get your package to the post office). This is something we’re happy to do for our customers and the environment. We appreciate your support in this area.
We accept DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT. We send photographic ID of the store owner (Michael Grealy) to all customers at the point of sale, along with media articles about iNVISeDGE with photos of Michael Grealy in them (most of these articles are about 10 years old). Your payment will be paid into an Australian ANZ bank account under the name Michael Grealy (or iNVISeDGE). Please read our ebay feedback spanning more than 15 years for irrefutable proof of our online trading history and reputation. Ebay feedback can ONLY be left by LEGITIMATE PAYING customers! Additionally please be aware that in Australia ALL consumers are protected BY LAW if the goods or services they buy are not as described. (But this should be of no concern- in our first 15 years of trading we have over 1150 positive ebay feedback comments and ZERO negative feedback comments.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On occasions a DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT can be made at the time of collection. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On occasions CASH payment when you collect your item may also be available. Confirm prior to purchase if you need this. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Other payment methods are available but problematic and may incur additional fees. Tell us prior to purchase if you are unable to feel 100% confident with our trading history and payment methods so we can negotiate something else with you.
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