Barb Reed-Jim Riordan - ©2000 - Wisconsin Pottery Association

The following article appeared in WPA Press, Vol. 6, October 2000

An Interview with WPA Members Barb Reed & Jim Riordan

In this edition of the WPA Press I’m delighted to present an interview with Barb Reed and Jim Riordan. Barb and Jim are charter members of the WPA and Jim served the club as an officer for two years, 1998 as vice-president and 1999 president. I’m also pleased to say that Barb is a cousin of mine (first cousin, once-removed). Barb has introduced me to many new things, antiquing being the most fun.

Due to very busy schedules, our annual show and sale, and that darn cold that hit after Labor Day, Barb, Jim and I weren’t able to meet in person to conduct the interview, but rather through email and the telephone.

Barb and Jim have widely ranging collecting interests and have been in the business, initially as collectors and eventually as dealers, for about 15 years. You might also find it interesting that they are newlyweds (of 2.5 years), after an extended 17-year engagement!

Both Jim and Barb credit Barb with being the first antique collector in the family. Barb began collecting while in high school. As Barb tells it, “I developed an interest in old things when I was in high school” (Rio High School, that is). “I liked the stained glass that I saw in older homes and felt comfortable around older furnishings”. She notes that she “didn’t feel the same warmth from newer things”. Barb commented that she liked a lot of her mother’s old dishes and planters, and the garden-ware that her mother had.

Barb left home in her late teens and started buying old ivory-colored planters and vases, not knowing what they were or their value. She used these for house plants and for general decorationg. Barb did her early antiquing at antique or buy-and-sell shops. When Jim came into the picture, they did their shopping expanded to estate sales and auctions. They began to learn, through books, how to identify various potteries, and began to shop more specifically for art pottery. Barb notes that meeting other antique fanciers and friends to talk about pottery, helped them to learn. She noted that some of her first acquisitions were Hull apple cookie jars (she has a bookshelf full of these!) and McCoy floral vases.

Jim, a later entrant into the field of antiques having started just 15 years ago, has by all accounts made up for lost time. Barb may have started before him, but Jim shares her passion for “old things”. As he points out, Jim was a history major in college and believes that his interest in antiquing is due in part to his interest in how things were in earlier days. In addition, Jim’s mother did some collecting. Jim admits that he wasn’t interested in pottery when he met Barb, but he soon took a fancy to pottery and Maxfield Parrish prints. While Barb was collecting McCoy pottery, Jim started picking up a few pieces of Roseville, which he says were priced very reasonably back then. In addition, he describes Roseville in the late 1980s as “plentiful”. While shopping for Roseville Jim says that they saw other pieces of pottery that they couldn’t identify, but found attractive. By buying at auctions Jim said that they ended up with boxes of pottery (selling by the lot, box- or table-full is common at auctions) that they could not identify, resulting in their buying books about pottery and taking an interest in more types of pottery.

Jim talked a bit about the competitive nature of antiquing and pottery collecting in particular. He said that he thinks it has changed, but doesn’t seem troubled by this. He noted that the internet and various magazines (Martha Stewart Living, Country Home, etc.) have made more people aware of antiques - more people are intrigued by collecting older things. We discussed whether magazines and television started the increase in interest in antiques, or if the magazines simply perpetuated this trend. Either way, antiques, collecting and ‘shabby chic’ have certainly reached more people due to the attention from magazines and television programs (we certainly must include Antiques Roadshow on the list). However it started, there are certainly more people interested in antiques than there were in the 1980s.

As someone that has attended a few auctions, but maybe fewer than he used to, Jim talked about auction crowds — and about the many variables in how the auction goes — weather, the auctioneer( s), the size of the crowds — he observed that larger crowds generally assure higher prices at auctions.

As far as where they shop, Barb and Jim noted that while they initially shopped largely auctions and garage/yard sales, they now especially enjoy flea markets, and manage to find at a new one to attend each year, shopping the antique malls and estate sales as well, while out “wandering” as Barb calls it. Jim and Barb do some shopping online - but Jim says this is occasional (those that know Jim know that he likes to travel - perhaps the lure of the outing cannot be matched online).

If you have seen Jim shopping, you know that he has a strong interest in dinnerware pieces. He says that he continues to learn more about it and finds that dinnerware has every bit as much historical appeal as pottery has. As an example Jim notes that chintz dinnerware/ china was popular circa the 1930s and 40s, a time that saw a zenith in creativity in the U.S. dinnerware, pottery and other home goods markets. Brands such as Fiesta and LuRay originated at this time, and have seen a resurgence in popularity in the past five years (of course Fiesta is currently in production, as well).

Barb and Jim emphasized that they are optimistic about collecting pottery - that there are still lots of good deals, especially for those that study the books and continue to learn about new pottery types and newly discovered pieces of existing collections. Barb suggested that collectors be true to their collecting interests, saying “If you have something you like and that you are happy collecting, go with that instead of trying to follow the trends, because trends change.”

Jim talked a bit about the early days of the Wisconsin Pottery Association. Barb and Jim knew Dave Auclair from work and chanced to talk to him while waiting to get into an estate sale in Maple Bluff one morning. They discussed a regular get-together, during the winter months when they wouldn’t see each other as much at sales, just to talk about pottery. Betty and Dave Knutzen, Chris Swart, Tim Holthaus and Jim Petzold, Nicol Knappen, the Fiscuses and Rose Lindner were other early members. This group met at the Knutzens for the first 4–5 meetings, and exchanged stories about their collecting trips and experiences. Jim credits Nicol for pushing to establish a club, augmented by Tim’s expertise in the organizational structure of not-for-profit groups. The group moved, at Terrance’s suggestion, to the Shorewood Community Center, sometime in 1994, as Jim recalled.

In terms of early WPA presentations, Jim recalled a wonderful presentation by the Fiscuses about Frankoma pottery. This stimulated the idea of learning by having regular presentations at the club meetings, an idea that coincided nicely with the club’s educational mission. Dave Auclair gave another early WPA presentation about experimental Roseville pieces ( Jim noted that some “drooling” went on when Dave brought out his collection).

Speaking of Dave Auclair, he was club president for the first two years, with Jim P. and Tim serving as secretary and treasurer, respectively. Once again, Tim was the driving force behind the tax-exempt status of the club. As the organizational structure was established and regular presentations were scheduled, the size of the club began to increase.

Jim told the story of the predecessor to the club’s annual show and sale - a Ceramic Arts exhibit that was held at the Forum during the monthly flea market. He told of how the charter members kicked in $20–30 to buy the lumber to build the exhibit. Jim noted that Glenn Clark was involved with the set-up of that 1994 exhibit at the Forum.

Ruben Sand was invited and flew in from California and Betty Harrington was at this fall 1994 exhibit. Thus began the Ceramic Arts and WPA collaborations for our annual fundraiser.

Because they didn’t make any money at this first effort, the club did not have another exhibit until 1996, when the WPA event coincided with the Ceramic Arts Society’s annual convention in Madison.

But we digress — Many thanks to Barb and Jim for a look into their lives.

Kari Kenefick, WPA Press Editor