Island-inspired ceramics adorned midcentury homes [Honolulu Star-Advertiser (HI)]

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Every so often, if you have sharp eyes and good luck, you can find a little bit of Tutu's beloved anthurium set on a tucked-away shelf.

Santa Anita Ware may not be a name as common as Shaheen sarong dresses or Ming's jewelry, but the look of the pottery conjures up that same graceful era in the islands.

Santa Anita Ware's "Flowers of Hawaii" line was popular in the 1950s. The dinnerware, made in Los Angeles, featured nine different designs depicting Hawaii flora: Red anthurium was the most popular and recognizable, followed by yellow hibiscus, torch ginger, bird of paradise, shell ginger, cup of gold, night-blooming cereus, croton leaves and the hard-to-find monstera leaf pattern.

Jack Chipman's 1992 book "Collector's Encyclopedia of California Pottery" explains the boom of California's earthenware from the 1930s through early 1960s. Small workshops and larger factories turned out sturdy, brightly-colored tableware, vases, ashtrays and figurines. The concept was to create everyday mix-and-match dishes that suited California's lifestyle as opposed to fussy European-style china. The clay was from California as well. At the peak of the pottery boom in 1948, there were more than 800 ceramic companies operating around Los Angeles. Many ended up selling their designs to Japanese or Chinese companies and the industry went into decline in the late 1950s.

Santa Anita ceramics began in 1939 and was in business through the early 60s. The company was known for its midcentury modern "drip glaze" ashtrays and several other hip designs as well as the Hawaii-themed tableware. The large floral designs were done in a transfer process rather than hand-painted, thus keeping the line relatively affordable. In Hawaii, the sets were sometimes given as wedding gifts to lucky brides, and some people swear their tutu had every piece of all nine patterns -- butter dishes, chip-and-dip sets, the works. Of course, in those old houses with the built-in shelves and glass-doored pantries, Grandma had the room for all those dishes.

Last week, the Kauai Museum held a benefit online auction that included a set of yellow hibiscus Santa Anita designs. The lot consisted of a dinner plate, salad plate, cup and saucer, all in excellent condition and valued at $75. (Sorry, the bidding closed on Friday.) Prices otherwise run from as low as $8 for a salad plate being sold by an unsuspecting dealer all the way up to $250 for a teapot or large platter. Online sites like eBay and Etsy often have pieces for sale, and every so often, someone will offer an entire set, but the most fun might be coming across a little pepper shaker or sugar bowl in a small antique store that makes you think of those family dinners at Grandma's all those years ago.

Lee Cataluna can be reached at lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.

Credit: Lee Cataluna