The Modern Shakers #45 (#45H): 1935-1942
John Frank’s lifelong goal was to put art pottery in the home of the common man at an affordable price. The design of the #45 Modern shaker put him in the forefront of the Art Deco movement. He designed a Modern grease container or sugar bowl #46 to accompany these shakers. This set has a very art-deco look and the two fit neatly together on the table.
This shaker design had adequate room on the base for marking. The Pot and Puma mark, the Partial Pot and Puma mark, the small incised “Frankoma” with round “o” and the small incised “Frankoma” with oval “o” all appear on these shakers. About half of these are marked with the incised oval “o”. The remaining ones share the three Norman marks and a few are unmarked.
The #45 design is one of two shakers appearing in the 1936 catalog. They appear again in the 1938 catalog. The 1942 catalog changes the mold number to #45H and refers to them as “Modern Carved Cubes”. The 1943 catalog pictures this shaker but does not show a number and description, yet we know from the glazes available that Frankoma produced this shaker in the 1942 era as well as before the 1938 fire.
This design is easily chipped on the corners and sometimes the body will suffer a long hair-line crack. The pre-fire shakers are identifiable regardless of marks. The earliers issues have a very deep recess for the cork. The post-fire issues are shallow to somewhat flat.
