Robert Simmons LA Pottery

The dogs of Robert Simmons LA Pottery

One of the most prolific California Potteries ~~ And so often overlooked!

Robert Simmons Company: was one of the most prolific California pottery companies that sprang up to fill America's knick-knack needs after the Japanese potteries became unavailable during World War II. It was started sometime in the late 30's or 1940's and was in business at least until 1950, when an Eberling & Reuss Company catalog featured their designs.

Identification

Robert Simmons pieces are often unmarked, but they are easy to spot.

	They may have silver paper labels with the name of a dog and a number on them (very similar to the ones found on DeeLee Art pieces). Most often these stickers have peeled away with age.
	There may also be an ink-stamped number on the bottom of the dog that corresponds to the number on the sticker
	There is often a spot of glaze on the bottom of the piece and also an incised double digit number.
	RS used a very easy-to-spot grayish-green color on most of their pieces. This green color can be so dense as to look like black. Very few other potteries used this color--In fact, the other ones that used it may have been affiliated with RS.
	Comma-shaped eyes
	A T-shaped nose
	Fringed edges on the edges of colors

Amazing Mystery of Robert Simmons

Robert Simmons apparently used several Royal Doulton and Beswick designs. How did they get away with it? No one knows~! For instance, compare these two fellows:

And these:

Michael Schneider, author of many books about animal figures and California Potteries, posits that Robert Simmons may have been a disgruntled RD employee who designed the original pieces. More likely, Robert Simmons designers simply copied what they liked -- and got away with it.

The copies are usually a bit larger and less well molded than the Royal Doulton versions. This may be due to clay viscosity. but might indicate that the Robert Simmons pieces were cast form the Royal Doulton ones. Certainly the Royal Doulton painting and finish-work is far superior, if more expensive than their Robert Simmons counterparts.

For more information on Robert Simmons, we recommend California Potteries: The Complete Book Mike Schneider, Schiffer Books, 1995

Click to see our gallery of Robert Simmons Pottery Pieces!

Here's another terrific resource on Robert Simmons! Jane Chapman's Simmons Page!

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One of the most prolific California Potteries ~~ And so often overlooked!

Identification

Amazing Mystery of Robert Simmons

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