Pot ID Please!

[The Bearded Bonsai]

Hello! I recently acquired a lot of the pots like you see pictured, in various sizes. I'm having trouble identifying them or estimating their worth. They don't seem to have a chop mark so I'm guessing they are Chinese production pots, but I do believe they haven't been available for quite some time based on the limited information I've found. Any information or leads would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Looks like cheap Chinese, may not be very frost-resistant. Nice crackle glaze, never seen an oval one with just one drain hole like that. Kinda cool. Worth maybe $12-20.

 

[penumbra]

It probably came with a mallsai in it. Comparable to a $5 flea market find.

 

[The Bearded Bonsai]

It probably came with a mallsai in it. Comparable to a $5 flea market find.

They have never had dirt/trees in them.

 

[Pitoon]

I'm trying to understand the one hole on one side? The glaze is very nice though. Don't let it freeze.

 

[sorce]

What's on the Bottom?

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

 

[penumbra]

This was all naggingly familiar, so I went on a look-about this morning. This pot was purchased about 30-33 years ago at a flea market. It is 10-1/2 inches long. I think I paid $3. I figured it was not suitable for bonsai so I put this mica / tourmaline cluster in it that I had just brought back from some rock hounding in interior Maine. I plugged the single hole with silicone sealer and had white sand in it, which I just dumped out for the picture. It was pretty dingy looking after 30 years so I will change the sand but keep the rock. (maybe black sand this time)
Sorry I did not remember this earlier but my batteries are not on a full charge.

 

[Pitoon]

This was all naggingly familiar, so I went on a look-about this morning. This pot was purchased about 30-33 years ago at a flea market. It is 10-1/2 inches long. I think I paid $3. I figured it was not suitable for bonsai so I put this mica / tourmaline cluster in it that I had just brought back from some rock hounding in interior Maine. I plugged the single hole with silicone sealer and had white sand in it, which I just dumped out for the picture. It was pretty dingy looking after 30 years so I will change the sand but keep the rock. (maybe black sand this time)
Sorry I did not remember this earlier but my batteries are not on a full charge.
View attachment 401493View attachment 401495

Do you have any explanation for the hole to one side?

 

[penumbra]

Do you have any explanation for the hole to one side?

No, sorry, no idea.

 

[rockm]

I used to buy big Chinese pots directly from an importer in Dallas. Went to his warehouse to pick them out. All those big pots came with drip trays--with a single hole at one end like this. Those drip trays had the same clay and glaze as the pot they were under. I bought the drip trays and used them for bonsai pots--the trays for square pots made excellent landscape pots (15" x 8" X 2") and you only had to drill one more hole at the opposite end. I don't know why they were made that way though.

 

[The Bearded Bonsai]

I definitely don't think they are drip trays, especially with a large drainage hole ensuring it wouldn't hold water. Also the variety of sizes. This is my size 11 foot for reference.

 

[The Bearded Bonsai]

What's on the Bottom?

Welcome to Crazy!

Sorce

Nothing.

 

[The Bearded Bonsai]

I'm trying to understand the one hole on one side? The glaze is very nice though. Don't let it freeze.

I don't think freezing is an issue. These had been sitting in an outside shed full of holes for years.

 

[Pitoon]

I don't think freezing is an issue. These had been sitting in an outside shed full of holes for years.

I was referring to outside getting wet and then freezing.

You don't know what Cone those pots were fired to nor their absorption rates are. It's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Forsoothe!]

I have a few with similar finishes and they are subject to losing some surface due to wintering outdoors. These as pictured above with the belly are much more damage-prone because frozen media will push out rather than just up in a pot that has some tapered relief like an ice-cube tray. Commercial pot makers make runs of pots and change to some other design and may never run a design again unless there is demand for it. Funeral arrangements are a constant market that might like one hole to secure some centerpiece object in shallow pots like these.

 

[penumbra]

I don't think freezing is an issue. These had been sitting in an outside shed full of holes for years.

I am sure they would be ok in a shed for hundreds of years, but I would not trust mine with a plant over winter.

 

[HorseloverFat]

One hole to hang ‘em on a rod.

...but probably not.

 

[rockm]

I used to buy big Chinese pots directly from an importer in Dallas. Went to his warehouse to pick them out. All those big pots came with drip trays--with a single hole at one end like this. Those drip trays had the same clay and glaze as the pot they were under. I bought the drip trays and used them for bonsai pots--the trays for square pots made excellent landscape pots (15" x 8" X 2") and you only had to drill one more hole at the opposite end. I don't know why they were made that way though.

Don't be too sure. I have trays like that with a single hole that are twice those sizes. They were underneath pots at the shipping warehouse. I had to ask the importer specifically to sell them separately from the pots.. Drip trays are not mean to "hold" water. They are meant to prevent water from dripping onto table/surfaces. The hole allows you to select where the excess water goes...