SET OF FOUR FRANCISCAN DESERT BOWLS
Updated September 5, 2026
| Lot number | 167 |
| Auction | Hancock Estate Auction |
| Date | September 25, 2026 at 9:30 AM CDT |
| Auction house | Harrison Auction & Realtor |
| Location | Gracemont, Oklahoma |
SET OF FOUR FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE FRUIT OR DESSERT BOWLS - HAND-DECORATED CALIFORNIA EARTHENWARE Four matching small bowls in Franciscan Desert Rose, the best-selling American dinnerware pattern ever made. Each has the pattern's soft-scalloped rim with the pale green edge line, hand painted with open pink wild roses, a pink bud, and glossy green leaves on twig sprays running around the rim, over a warm off-white glossy body. These are the fruit or dessert size - the everyday bowls that get used for berries, applesauce, ice cream, pudding, cereal, or a side of fruit - and they are the pieces that most often come up missing when someone is filling out a Desert Rose service. All four carry the same Franciscan Interpace-era backstamp. Sold as a lot of four pieces. Description Four Desert Rose fruit or dessert bowls, round with a soft-scalloped and gently waved rim, shallow rounded well, and a low plain foot ring. Each measures approximately 5-1/2" to 5-3/4" in diameter across the rim and approximately 1-1/2" tall per the tape-measure photographs. Hand-painted underglaze Desert Rose decoration around the rim: open pink five-petal wild roses with yellow and brown-dotted centers, closed pink buds, and two-tone green leaves on olive twig stems, finished with the soft green wash along the scalloped edge. Centers of the wells are plain glossy off-white. Backstamp on each: dotted oval mark with ring lettering reading INTERPACE across the top and MADE IN U.S.A. across the bottom, enclosing a small over Franciscan in script over EARTHENWARE. Below the oval are the numbers 35-68 and the line OVEN SAFE COLOR FAST. Attribution note Franciscan Desert Rose was introduced in 1941 by Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles and went on to become the most successful American dinnerware pattern of the twentieth century, produced in California into the mid-1980s. Gladding, McBean was absorbed into Interpace Corporation in the early 1960s, and reference sources including Replacements, Ltd. and the Gladding, McBean Franciscan archive associate the "Interpace" ring wording on the backstamp with roughly the mid-1960s through 1970s period of American production, before the brand moved into the Wedgwood era with England and Portugal marks. These bowls therefore represent the desirable USA-made California production. Dating is offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion drawn from the backstamp and is not guaranteed. Bid on the items as pictured. Condition Used vintage condition, sold as-is. All four bowls photograph clean and bright with strong color, glossy glaze, and no chips, cracks, or repairs observed. Expect normal age and use wear consistent with everyday dinnerware: light utensil and spoon scratching in the wells, faint gray marks, small dark glaze specks, and shelf and stacking wear on the foot rings and undersides. The scalloped rims and the painted green edge line are the vulnerable areas on this shape - check each rim closely in the photographs for
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