Gale Turnbull’s Coastline Dinnerware for Vernon Kilns

I’ve already declared my love of maps here--and now look what I found:  maps on plates!   The Coastline pattern by Vernon Kilns, from the late 1930s.

Vernon Kilns Coastline-- Michigan dinner plate

I’ve mentioned Gale Turnbull and Vernon Kilns before here when I talked about Don Blanding’s Lei Lani and Hawaiian Flowers patterns.   These plates date to about the same time (1936/1937) and were apparently designed by Turnbull himself.  He seems to have had a taste for the ocean, as he designed this pattern as well as the ‘Marine’ pattern, which depicted sailing ships, coastal towns and other nautical scenes.

Louisiana and Long Island

When I found these plates they were all lined up on plate stands and at first I couldn’t quite tell what they were.  And then I recognized Long Island!   The fragments of coastline are abstracted to the point where, at first glance, even the most familiar locations seem strange (especially when not in a north-south orientation!).

Two California plates--San Francisco and Los Angeles

I have seven 8 ½ inch plates (salad? lunch?) and one larger 9 ½ inch plate.  The design is hand painted (though I would guess that the lettering of the place names was a transfer).  The pattern was used on several sizes of plates and bowls as well as cups and saucers, tumblers, a carafe and other pieces.

Cape Cod

Delaware and New Jersey

There seems to be a shamefully scant amount of information on this pattern.  The book on Vernon Kilns gives a very partial list of the breakdown of what section of coastline is shown on which pieces, and a few images--but I have not found much else (one more image in California Pottery).

Detail of San Francisco

Are there pieces that cover the entire US coastline?  I have seen plates of Florida, but they were in awful condition so I didn’t buy them (which I kind of regret now). What about Maine?  The Chesapeake Bay?  Northwest Coast?  Were the American territories depicted (because you know I’d give my left leg for Hawaii!)?  Could I collect all the pieces and lay them out like a giant outline of the country?  That would make me really happy, it would be like collecting Star Wars cards and I would have to get them all.

Mark on the Michigan dinner plate--the smaller plates just say 'Coastline' and do not identify the location

I have duplicates of some plates and I will offer those in my shop.  Meanwhile, the hunt continues for more Coastline!  Feel free to be in touch through my website if you can point me in the right direction.

© All text and images are copyright of Jeni Sandberg

Lei Lani and Hawaiian Flowers Dinnerware by Don Blanding for Vernon Kilns

Lei Lani and Hawaiian Flowers 9 1/2 inch plates, designed by Don Blanding for Vernon Kilns

I recently discovered the joys of Don Blanding’s poetry and illustrations, as seen in the lovely set of his notecards from the 1940s which I recently purchased and discussed here.  Now I am on the hunt for the dinnerware Blanding designed for Vernon Kilns in the 1930s--and happily, I found a couple plates to amuse me.

By the mid 1930s, Blanding had achieved success with the publication of numerous books of his poetry and illustrations.  He helped propagate the idea of Hawaii as an exotic paradise in books like Hula Moon, The Virgin of Waikiki, and his best known work, Vagabond’s House.

Vernon Kilns was one of ‘The Big Five’ California pottery manufacturers, based in Vernon, just south of downtown Los Angeles.  In 1936, the firm hired Gale Turnbull as artistic director to and he proceeded to hire three popular artists of the day to design dinnerware--Don Blanding, Rockwell Kent and Walt Disney.  (An aside--the Rockwell Kent pieces are awesome and I want some of the ‘Our America’ series and some Moby Dick plates!  The Disney dinnerware is not decorated with Snow White and Dumbo, but surprisingly pleasing all-over patterns of delicate leaves and pinecones.)

The plates I have are in the Lei Lani and Hawaiian Flowers patterns.  They are essentially the same--both use a transfer-printed center and border, but Lei Lani adds hand-painted details.  Both are on the ‘Ultra’ shape plate, very simple with a downward sloping rim and the pattern was later printed on slightly different pottery blanks.

Lei Lani became one of the most popular patterns produced by Vernon Kilns, and was available from the late 1930s into the mid 1950s.  Blanding’s linear style was well suited to this medium.   The dense profusion of tropical flowers has a feeling similar to English Chintzware of the previous decade, but Blanding’s treatment has a more stylized, modern feel.

Each piece in the line was signed with the pattern name and ‘Aloha, Don Blanding’ the artist’s standard greeting (he signed his books this way, too).

Hawaiian Flowers was available in the maroon color I have, as well as blue, pink and orange (the orange version is beautiful, like a delicious Hawaiian creamsicle!).

I’m on the hunt for more of Vernon Kilns dinnerware--in addition to the patterns I have, there is another floral pattern (the variations are called Glamour, Joy, Ecstasy and Delight!) and one with tropical fish.   Blanding’s designs are pretty desirable, hard to find, and not inexpensive...I’ll post on Blanding again as I find more pieces.

I occasionally offer some of my Blanding pieces in my Etsy shop--check it out here.


© All text and images are copyright of Jeni Sandberg