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California Pottery # 811 LION Watching over Pride / Gold / COLLECT - $250 (South Burlington)
condition:
like new
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This lion, I put on Craigslist last year for much less. It didn't sell. I used Google Lens this time to find out more about it.
Dimensions : apx 20" L x 12" H x 11" W Eyes are of natural stones. This one has Jade eyes.
One thing I found out is it is still worth more than my asking. It is beautiful and it is well done. This is # 811 of California Pottery. There is one person on Etsy trying to get $3700 for one. I am more realistic after seeing other prices and actual sold listings. I am still on the much lower side. Designed by Freeman- Mcfarlin See History below.
I can SHIP this for anyone not able to pickup locally. Paypal preferred or Venmo as a backup. / LOCALS : Cash only.
HISTORY
Freeman McFarlin was founded by Gerald McFarlin and Maynard Anthony Freeman in the 1927 and they operated McFarlin Potteries in El Monte California.
Gerald McFarlin was the businessman of the duo and Maynard Anthony Freeman was responsible for completely reinventing their line, changing it from mostly small animal figurines to very large figurines that were sculpted with great detail, movement, and expression. Some of the larger animal figurines were just down right amazing, especially the birds and owls; some we so large that they had a wingspan of up to 16 inches!
Maynard Anthony Freeman’s signature is commonly found on pieces he designed, along with other designers such as Kay Finch, Rutledge, Hetrick and Wright. Kay Finch produced new designs for the company in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.
Early production took place at the El Monte factory, and in 1968 a second plant was added in San Marcos due to the popularity of the pieces; however the success was short lived.
In the late sixties Gerald McFarlin sold his interest in the company and Freeman sold the remainder of the company to International Multifoods in 1972. The El Monte factory closed permanently in 1975 and operations were consolidated at the San Marcos plant. In 1980 Hagen-Renaker bought the San Marcos plant and acquired all of the Freeman-McFarlin Pottery operations. Hagen-Renaker continued to use many of Freeman McFarlin designs and continued to make figurines until the factory closed in 1986. Some were sold with "Freeman McFarlin, a division of Hagen Renaker" tags but if they are not labeled it can be very difficult to decipher if a figurines is Freeman-McFarlin or Hagen-Renaker.
Freeman McFarlin used multiple colors on their figurines including light/tan brown, gold leaf, silver leaf, yellow, red, black, green, brown, white, and a lladro like blue/white. White and gold were by far the most common colors. Sometimes you will see areas of red on gold-leaf pieces and this is not considered a flaw. The red coating under the leaf is used to give the gold leaf a very vibrant color and the rubbing comes with age. Hagen Renaker used white or gold leaf finishes on most of the Freeman pieces they produced, but they also made Gray Elephants, Brown Foxes, Gray Mice, and Siamese cats.
Sources:
www.hagenrenakerhorses.com/FreemanMcFarlinGallery.html