Golf Ceramic & Glass Collecting

Ceramic and glass items having golf motifs are highly collectible as frequent centerpieces of color, beauty and often rarity.  

For those who subscribe to the Dutch origin of golf, the first examples of ceramics are the Delft tiles (blue subjects on a white background) beginning in the 17th century.  The golden age of golf ceramics is from the 1890’s through the 1920’s with especially numerous British and American makers, but with those in Germany, France, Spain, Czechoslovakia, Japan and others highly prized.  The items typically include mugs, pitchers, jugs, bowls, vases. steins and plates, but also picture frames, porcelain figurines, etc.   It was not uncommon to offer ceramics as trophies for winners of golf competitions, often with a sterling band that could be engraved.

The dominant British makers include Royal Doulton with different styles including Doulton Lambeth (usually tan pottery with scenes in white relief), Morrisian Ware, Kingsware, Doulton Burslem (hand painted fine examples), and Series Ware (in six types).  Another British manufacturer is Copeland Spode usually with while relief decorations on distinctive navy blue or olive-green backgrounds.  The dominant American maker was Lenox/Ceramic Art Company whose works are quickly recognized by the monochrome hand painted scenes in dull green or blue, but other important American makers include Weller, Rookwood, O’Hara and others.  Prices were at a peak in the mid 1990’s with many examples available today at relative bargain prices.

Golf Glassware includes designs with very thin silver silhouettes glued on to the glass or with applications of thick silver in complex decorative patterns overlaying the glass. Others commonly have golfers or golfing scenes etched or engraved into the glass.