UNIQUE AMERICAN BUFFALO POTTERY DELDARE "THE FRANKLIN MAN" RALPH STUART HAND-PAINTED CERAMIC TRAY

UNIQUE AMERICAN BUFFALO POTTERY DELDARE "THE FRANKLIN MAN" RALPH STUART HAND-PAINTED CERAMIC TRAY, with colorful hand-painted design of a Franklin Series 9 convertible parked by water with woman standing up in the back seat, and "GEORGE OSTENDORF / The Franklin Man / 1221 Main STr." printed below. Signed R.[alph] Stuart. / 1917" on right side with hand-brushed "Buffalo. Pottery / 1917" on underside. Together with an uncounted group of related ephemera including a framed caricature of George Ostendorf and a laminated Saturday Evening Post advertisement depicting the drawing the plate design was based on. Buffalo Pottery Company, Buffalo, New York. Circa 1917.

Condition: Mostly good condition with minor flake on bottom rim, a 1 1/8" thin line of glaze loss on upper right rim, and a few expected scratches to interior with some crazing.

Size: 13 3/4" x 10 1/4".

Provenance: From the estate of Holton Rosenquist, Bradford, IL.Catalogue Note: George Ostendorf (1869-1932) "was the Franklin distributor in the Buffalo territory becoming one of the pioneers in automobile retailing in this city [Buffalo, NY]". He was a Franklin dealer for 25 years, President of the Buffalo Automobile Trade Association, and was a leader in the Automobile Club of Buffalo.

The framed caricature is a page photocopied from a dinner program for a meeting of the Buffalo Automobile Trade Association where Mr. Ostendorf was honored as "The Franklin Man".