Question:
I live down Hwy 61 from Redwing. Years ago, my sister bought me a Round 10 1/2 " deviled egg tray from a rummage sale. Recently I found a matching divided 14" relish/nut tray at an auction. I bought it because I knew I had a similar egg tray. I bought it and brought it home and it matches exactly. I love it! It is cream or egg shell white with a brownish rust spakling high gloss glaze. I am curious about the time or era that this was popular? Is there a dish set to go with this? What is the name of the color or pattern? Can it be found anymore? What is the value of this? It just says RedWing USA on the back; nothing more. There is no name or number on the back. Please advise? Theresa Speltz

Answer: Your description of a round 14" relish/nut tray doesn’t seem to match up with a Red Wing product . How many sections are found on your tray and how are they laid out?

Most likely you have a 5 compartment nut bowl. This item is round, has one compartment in the center surrounded by four compartments of similar size, and is 12.5 inches across. This item was introduced in the 1956 art pottery catalog as a 5 compartment nut bowl. It is listed as #446 and some early pieces include this number along with Red Wing USA in the marking on the bottom. This nut bowl continued to be listed as an art pottery piece through the rest of the 1950s and during this time was available in various art pottery colors.

By 1960 the 5 compartment nut bowl was dropped from the art pottery line and become one of a number of food service pieces that don’t belong to a specific dinnerware pattern. Your other item, the deviled egg tray, also fits into this group. Catalogs now list this as a nut or relish tray, and the only color available is "tan fleck". This is the background color used for several Red Wing dinnerware patterns, and undecorated tan fleck pieces such as your egg tray and nut bowl could be used with any of them. To the best of my knowledge, production of the 5-section nut/relish tray in tan fleck continued until the pottery closed in 1967.

The tan fleck nut/relish tray sold well and today they are readily available at yard sales, antique stores and on eBay. Collector interest is low because the supply is relatively high and the piece doesn’t nicely fit into either the art pottery catagory or with a particular dinnerware pattern. Value for a 5 section nut/relish tray in tan fleck would be no more than $25. Older pieces in art pottery colors might be valued a bit higher.

Note: A few tan fleck nut/relish trays can be found decorated with the Bob White and Tampico patterns. They are scarce and are sought by collectors of these patterns. Values for trays decorated in these patterns are significantly higher, in the $75-100 range.