Cemar Clay Products was a California pottery operating between 1935 and 1955. Cemar's art pottery products, including tableware, are sought-after collectables today.

History

Cemar was founded by Cliff J. Malone and Paul Cauldwell, two former employees of the well-established (J.A.)

Bauer Pottery J.A. Bauer Pottery is an American pottery that was founded in Paducah, Kentucky in 1895 and operated for most of its life in Los Angeles, California. It closed in 1962. History In 1885, John Andrew "Andy" Bauer bought out Frank Parham's Paducah ...

. Cemar Pottery, like Bauer, was based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Cemar was part of the larger boom in

California pottery California pottery includes industrial, commercial, and decorative pottery produced in the Northern California and Southern California regions of the U.S. state of California. Production includes brick, sewer pipe, architectural terra cotta, ...

during the World War II era when pottery imports from Asia were restricted or banned; a variety of potteries operated in California to keep up with domestic demand. Cemar was one of 13 members of the California Pottery Guild in 1952. Cemar's products include giftware, tableware, and garden pottery. Many of Cemar's designs were created by potter Fred Kaye. Many items feature vegetable or fruit designs, or animal designs. Cemar products were produced in many novelty forms, including pineapple-shaped dinnerware. Items were priced at a somewhat higher-end for casual china, selling at around $7.50 for a place setting in 1952. Cemar's products were featured in numerous women's magazines targeting their marketing towards America's newly affluent middle class housewives: '' Better Homes and Gardens'' in 1949; ''

House Beautiful ''House Beautiful'' is an interior decorating magazine that focuses on decorating and the domestic arts. First published in 1896, it is currently published by the Hearst Corporation, who began publishing it in 1934. It is the oldest still-publish ...

'' magazine in 1951; and ''

The American Home ''The American Home'' was a monthly magazine published in the United States from 1928 to 1977. Its subjects included domestic architecture, interior design, landscape design and gardening."American Home", Library of Congress Catalog. History and ...

'' in 1953. One of Cemar's fish-shaped cookie jars is priced at more than $150 today. Cemar was bought by

in the mid-1950s. Bauer reused a number of the molds formerly used by Cemar. Cemar's products are popular with collectors of

as well as those who look for

retro style Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

designs.

References

{{Pottery Ceramics manufacturers of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Kitchenware brands

History

See also

References