Vintage Frankoma Pottery Terra Cotta Duck Decoy Planter

Description

Classic Frankoma Terra Cotta Duck Decoy Planter. The terra cotta finish is the star of this piece. A rich terra … more Classic Frankoma Terra Cotta Duck Decoy Planter. The terra cotta finish is the star of this piece. A rich terra cotta brown speckled ever so lightly with yellowy whites peeking through. Picked up as part of a set, buy just this one... or, make an offer on both.

Perfect for a rustic cabin in the woods, or a beautiful coastal home overlooking the ocean.

Frankoma was founded in 1933 in Norman, Oklahoma, by John Frank, who was a professor of ceramics at the University of Oklahoma from 1927 to 1936. The name Frankoma was derived from "Frank" plus the last three letters of "Oklahoma". Frank moved the company to Sapulpa in 1938, but had to rebuild the factory later that year after a fire.

Frankoma used light-hued local Ada clay in its early products. The light clay was replaced by brick-red local clay in 1953. John Frank operated the pottery with his wife Grace Lee Frank until his death in 1973. The factory was rebuilt in 1984 after a September 1983 fire destroyed most of the facility. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1990. The Frank's daughter Joniece ran the pottery until 1991 when she was forced to sell the struggling company. The buyer, Richard Bernstein of Maryland, resold the business in 2005 to Det Merryman.

The company was closed for six weeks and then sold again during the summer of 2008, reopening on August 18 under new owner Joe Ragosta. Ragosta planned to bring back all the employees and continue the Frankoma line of pottery.[6] The year 2008 marked the company's 75-year anniversary.The company closed in 2010 and was auctioned on May 18, 2011. Over a thousand pieces of pottery plus showroom fixtures and equipment were sold. The 1,800 original molds and the Frankoma name were not included in the sale, nor was the real estate. In August 2012, the factory building was sold to a non-pottery manufacturer and the original Frankoma molds and trademark name were sold to FPC LLC. As of April 2020, pottery continues to be made, but in lower volume, focused on artware.

The University of Oklahoma's Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art opened an Oklahoma Clay: Frankoma Pottery exhibition in 2012, documenting Oklahoma culture through pottery.

All company information courtesy of Wikipedia. less