“Walley Can Mean More than a Walrus” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog - William S. Walley Pottery.

William Walley Pottery - Thanks to www.roykas.com

When we are looking for treasure as members of the Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club it is easy to get carried away with the names most people recognize, but that isn't necessarily where the real money is to be made. Often it is from pieces that were made by craftsmen that never became commercial successes while they were alive. I think that William S. Walley was such a gentleman. His production of pottery only covered a short span of time from 1898 – 1919 in a small shop in West Sterling Massachusetts, but today his pieces of pottery are highly coveted by the sophisticated collector.

With the downturn in the economy most of the common and even some of the not so common works of the potters have declined in value, but not so with Walley. In fact, to my amazement, they are still climbing at a rather startling rate. He was a common man and I think that he never would have guessed that his works in the future would sometimes command thousands of dollars. Not like one of his peers, George Ohr, who predicted his works would be worth more than gold someday. What a prophet he was.

Walley once made a statement that will last for all times, "There is more artistic merit in a brick, formed and fired by one man, than in the best piece of modeled pottery ever made.” So I hope that the Roseville collectors don't hear that. But I do believe that the skill of one man is better than the copy of any other work. He did a lot of his work at the Wooster State Hospital where he taught the patients how to make pottery. These works were signed with a die cast mark WST. I can find no other mark that he used with the exception of his initials.

He used local red clay for his pieces and most were under 7” tall. Only 5% of his pieces were 12” or taller. Most of his work consisted of vases with carved leaves and the glazes he used were his own compositions. He liked to use the colors green and brown with the semi-gloss or matte finishes but could vary to the mahogany and blue.

I just received my new catalog from Cincinnati Art Galleries and there is a wonderful example of Walley's work represented # lot 308 and it has an estimate of $3000-$3500 and at that price I think that it is a bargain. Watch for those initials WST on the bottom of that next vase you pick up.

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