STYLE : DESIGN : California Collectibles

At the height of its popularity in 1941, the J. A. Bauer Pottery Co. of Los Angeles sold a honey jar, decorated with little bees, for 70 cents. Today, the jar fetches $200--not much by Picasso standards, but no small feat for dinnerware that was, until recently, considered dirt-common, plain, old everyday stuff. Once widely available at almost every thrift shop and garage sale, Bauer pottery has become increasingly sought-after and increasingly scarce, with much of it now in the hands of private collectors.

Whatever the price, though, Bauer survives as the quintessential Los Angeles dinnerware: bright, intense colors (the basics are golden yellow, royal blue, deep orange and a soft green) and simple but elegant designs. It is also heavy and durable, so it doesn’t need the same pampering attention required by a delicate Haviland antiquity.

Several people have turned their obsession with Bauer into a business. “I sell a piece when I have a duplicate,” Santa Ana collector Van Fryman says of his stands at antique shows and the Long Beach swap meet. But Southern California stores that specialize in Bauer are now as rare as the pottery itself: Buddy’s in Los Angeles and Piccolo Pete’s in Sherman Oaksare tw of the remaining sources for the dishes that were once as common as orange groves.