Franciscan Desert Rose
Updated September 5, 2026
| Lot number | 142 |
| Auction | Hancock Estate Auction |
| Date | September 25, 2026 at 9:30 AM CDT |
| Auction house | Harrison Auction & Realtor |
| Location | Gracemont, Oklahoma |
25-Character Title Franciscan Desert Rose (22) Alternates: Desert Rose Pitcher Set (23) Franciscan Rose 3 Piece (23) Desert Rose 3 Pc Set (20) HiBid Description FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE HAND-PAINTED EARTHENWARE - LARGE WATER PITCHER, CREAMER, AND COVERED SUGAR BOWL Three-piece grouping of Franciscan Desert Rose, the hand-painted California earthenware pattern introduced in 1941 and one of the best-selling American dinnerware patterns ever made. Each piece has the creamy off-white body with embossed and hand-painted pink wild roses, buds, and green leaves on a tan-brown thorny branch, finished with the pattern's signature sculpted green twig handles. The lot includes the large bulbous water pitcher with a high pinched spout, a matching creamer, and the two-handled covered sugar bowl with its rosebud finial lid. A ready-made set for a hutch, coffee bar, or breakfast table, and the pitcher displays beautifully on its own with fresh flowers. Sold as a lot of three pieces (four counting the sugar lid): water pitcher, creamer, and covered sugar bowl. Description Maker: Franciscan, made by Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles, California. Pattern: Desert Rose, hand-painted embossed earthenware Large water pitcher: bulbous body on a low foot ring, tall pinched spout, sculpted green branch handle. Measures approximately 8-3/4" to 9" tall per the tape-measure photographs, roughly 7" spout to handle Creamer: matching squat bulbous form with pinched spout and green twig handle, approximately 4-1/4" to 4-1/2" tall Covered sugar bowl: round two-handled body with a flat lid and a modeled pink rosebud finial with green leaves, approximately 4-1/4" to 4-1/2" tall to the top of the finial and roughly 5-1/2" across the handles Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs Decoration: raised molded roses and leaves, hand-painted in pink, yellow, two shades of green, and soft brown, with the glossy glaze intact and bright The covered sugar bowl is marked on the underside within an oval: GLADDING, McBEAN & CO. around the border, with FRANCISCAN EARTHENWARE - MADE IN U.S.A. and an F inside, plus a small painted decorator code The creamer carries the same oval FRANCISCAN EARTHENWARE backstamp The large pitcher is marked with an interlocked monogram of the letters G and F beneath a small branch device, over U.S.A., with the letter H and the number 03 below Attribution note Franciscan ware was produced by Gladding, McBean & Co. in Los Angeles from 1934, with the Desert Rose pattern launching in 1941 and remaining in domestic production until 1984, after which production moved overseas. Reference sources including Replacements, Ltd. list Desert Rose with a USA backstamp as an actual production run of 1941 to 1984. The Franciscan Ceramics Archive notes that the Gladding, McBean & Co. name was removed from the backstamps following the 1962 corporate merger, so pieces still naming Gladding, McBean are of pre-1963 manufacture; the archive also docum
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