Frog of the Day

Otagiri - Frog Salt and Pepper Shakers
Originally uploaded by KenCalvino.

Still no rain here but the air is so muggy, I hope we finally get some. The lawn is as brown and yellow as can be. It was a busy day running some errands yesterday and topped off with a quick trip to the supermarket. Only a couple of weeks to the open of super Walmart - living in a very rural area means that will hopefully mean a grocery store with choices. Right now we have a small market that often sells one brand of an item. That means if you don't like the brand, putting a lot of salt and pepper on it to cover the taste.......

This frog collectible item is from Otagiri in Japan. The design is by Mary Ann Baker and is a frog couple. I have looked for information on this particular pattern with little success. It dates to the early 1980's and included not only a full dinner service with all the side pieces, but also items for the bathroom and a desk set. These items are highly collectible and are just starting to come on the auction block. Unfortunately it is extremely hard to find pieces that are not missing even small chips, especially on the mouth area of the frogs. On this set, the male frog has the tiniest chip missing. I purchased these on e-bay but I'm not going to complain because the seller did not know what they were and just listed them as a frog salt and pepper shaker with no references to the name Otagiri or Mary Ann Baker - that was my good fortune to get them at a very good price.