The Pothead Revisited.......

Mom Didn't Want Her Picture Taken

My mom came to visit us over the Thanksgiving holidays.  We had a blast.   But, the funniest moment came unexpectedly the first night she was with us.  Her bed was in the guest bedroom, and as she laid down, her head propped up on several pillows, she found that she was being stared at by an otherworldly piece of pottery known affectionately in our family as "The Pothead".

She said It Gave Her "The Willies".  Ha.

The Pothead was sitting on a bookcase across the room from her bed.  This eerie piece of pottery was made in school by my daughter, Diane, when she was about 12 years old.  The only thing that saved it from the trash heap was moi, who somehow fell in love with it and kept it as a treasured conversation piece. 

We Had to turn it Toward the Wall so She Could Sleep

My mom said the Pothead "gives me the willies", and instructed that it be turned around to face the wall so that she could sleep without being spooked. 

Now that mom has returned home, the beloved creation has been repositioned facing the open room. 

The Priceless Pothead

Early Ming Dynasty?  $200,000 at Auction?

When my daughter, Diane, was about 12 years old, she came home from school one day proudly carrying a ceramic creation she had made in a pottery class.  The creation was a human head that was hollowed out for use as a vase or similar function.

Without a doubt, it is the strangest looking thing imaginable.  My initial thought was that she either has an incredible imagination or was under the influence of a hallucinogen.

It turns out that she has an incredible imagination....that, plus the fact that an artist she is not.  Ha.

But, as happens, the "Pothead", as it has been dubbed, has assumed an important and honored place in our home.  It is now a part of our family lore, to be discussed and laughed about whenever we gather together.

Diane and Me, Taken Earlier This Year

To be sure, all of us thought at the time that it was a cute piece of junk, to be thrown away at first chance.  But somehow it ended up in my office, then it was in our den, then it moved with Cindy and me to Texas, where it has been sitting for years on our hearth.

It is a wonderful conversation piece.  When friends come over, they invariably ask about it.  I always tell them it is "early Ming Dynasty".  No one has believed me yet, but maybe some day......

My fantasy is to take it to be appraised on Antique Road Show and have the conversation go something like this:

EXPERT:  Do you have any idea what this piece might be worth?
ME:  No----maybe $1.50?
EXPERT:  Well, I'm glad you're sitting down, Clint, because we think this magnificent piece would fetch at least $200,000 at auction.