I found some more interesting pottery at an estate sale last fall. It definitely looked handmade. The outside of a long boat shaped bowl was not glazed but looked ‘combed’ while wet to give it texture, and the inside was a beautiful glaze of melting colors that pooled in the bottom of the bowl.
Hammat Original 306M
There were also two fiddle leaf bowls and a small ashtray all with unglazed outsides.
Fiddle Leaf Bowl
Small Hannat Original Ashtray
Incised Hammat Original
On the bottom, scratched into the clay was “Hammat Original” on each piece.
When I got home with my treasures, I ran to the computer and discovered Flora Mary Eckert Hammat…another female ceramist and artist who was internationally known for her designs and ceramics from 1945-1961. True mid-century pottery.
I learned that in 1945, Flora studied under Glenn Lukens at UCLA. Lukens, raised on a farm in the hill country of my home state of Missouri, was a dominent figure in the field of American clayworking and started the Modern Ceramics Movement during the Great Depression. He was quite a visionary that liked to combine simple natural raw forms with bright glazes that mirrored the colors and textures of the California desert. He was famous for formulating unique glazes. Flora learned all she could about clays and glazes from him, and how to construct kilns.
Returning to Tulsa, Hammat built a small kiln and started producing her handmade pottery from the garage using her house for storage. After a year, Flora and, her husband, Neves moved their business to the basement of his mother’s house. In two years, they needed more room and bought three acres on Tulsa’s east edge. Here they built a large building and four large brick kilns. This building was their office, their manufacturing plant (which employed up to twenty workers at the peak of success), and a place where–Neves, Flora, and their two daughters, Cinda and Joan–ate many family meals.
Her success came from the quality and originality in her pieces. Her glazes were beautiful and did not leak. The pottery was lightweight. The natural look on the outside of the pieces and their biomorphic shapes from nature were loved by florists. She sold through trade shows and made special promotional pieces for stores and clubs. Neiman Marcus and other major department stores bought her pieces. She spoke at many garden and women’s clubs from coast to coast.
Japanese imports were what finally closed the plant in 1961. She couldn’t compete with the lower prices they offered. Her pieces were labor intensive…works of love and quality…that understandably demanded a higher price.
There are still lots of Hammat Originals out there to be found. In the book, “Frankoma And Other Oklahoma Potteries” by Phyllis and Tom Bess, there are nine pages of color photos showing the diversity of Flora’s style. Yes, she made the floral bowls but she also made Chi Chi… a 10″ tall monkey, “Tico”… a clown head, an 18″ Ram, a 4.5″ Indian Maiden Wall Mask, a “Hot Foot” ashtray, cigarette rests, coconut mugs, a 15″ sportsman’s duck platter….just to name a few.
I’ll be watching for more of Flora Hammat’s work this year.
And, by the way, 306M is featured in my Etsy shop!
