A collection can cost little, but give much satisfaction

My latest fascination started with a large vase I found at the thrift store last summer. The tall brown pottery piece flecked with iridescent green glaze and marked “Brush,” was interesting. I liked the shape of the vase, and its earthy colors, and thought it would look nice filled with flowering branches or bouquets of summer flowers. It only cost a few dollars, so I bought it.

A few months later, at another thrift store, I picked up a pretty dish, wide and shallow, with a scalloped edge and coated in the same green glaze as the vase. At less than $5, I couldn’t resist, so I bought it, too.

When I got it home I liked the way the two pieces looked together. Eventually, a flower pot and two more planters, all with the same green glaze, joined the group.

If you’re new to this, by the way, this is how collections are born.

Most of my green pottery pieces – some aren’t marked – were made by the Brush Pottery Co., which was founded by George Brush in 1906 in Zanesville, Ohio. In 1911, Brush Pottery merged with the J.W. McCoy Pottery Co., and became the Brush-McCoy pottery.

In 1925, the McCoy name was dropped, and Brush Pottery continued to manufacture inexpensive pottery until 1982.

My pottery pieces were all made in the 1950s and ‘60s. They weren’t expensive pieces then and they aren’t high-ticket items now. But they appeal to me. Just like beauty, exactly what it is that makes an item desirable is in the eye of the beholder.

Vintage McCoy pottery is highly collectible, and prices reflect its popularity, but most mid-century Brush pottery is attractive, easy to find and usually doesn’t cost a lot. That makes it an almost guilt-free collectible.

Green is one of my favorite colors. And the shimmer of the glaze on the pieces that catches my eye reminds me of the everchanging colors of the sea.

I put my collection of pottery on a table in front of the living-room window and use it to hold the stones, shells and pretty agates I’ve gathered at the beach.

Each time I pass the table, my eye is drawn to the dishes and to my souvenirs.

It just goes to show that it doesn’t take a lot of money to grow a collection. In this case, the pottery is cheap and beachcombing is free.

The memories, to quote the commercial, are priceless.