Van Briggle “Indian Maiden” & “Indian Head” Pieces

“Indian Maiden” and “Indian Head” are the trade names collectors and auction houses use for several different Van Briggle molds with Native American subjects. We keep those names in quotes because they are what appears on catalog records and what people search for. The best documented is the three-face “Indian Head” vase, credited to the pottery’s head potter Ambrose Schlegel. The “Indian Maiden” name covers a group of small figures, most often a kneeling woman grinding corn.

The theme goes back to the founder. At Rookwood, before he came to Colorado, Artus Van Briggle painted Native American portraits on vases, and Pueblo author Kenneth Talmage Stacks has described Ute visitors whose beadwork caught Artus’s eye at the Chico Basin ranch where he stayed.

This is a tapered or baluster vase about 10¾ to 12¼ inches tall with three Native American heads in relief around the shoulder. Each face has a different expression, and long braids run from each down to the foot. Auction houses also list it as the “Indian Chief” vase, the “Three Face Indian Head,” or the “Native American Head” vase.

Who Designed It, and When

A 1967 letter from the Van Briggle company files, published by Kathy Honea on vanbrigglenotes.com, credits the design to Ambrose Schlegel in 1927. It says the piece was modeled as a lamp base and sold that way from 1927 to about 1939, and Honea notes that it was put back into production after the letter was written. Schlegel joined Van Briggle in 1903 and was head potter from Artus’s death until shortly before his own in 1931.

The 1927 date has one complication. Honea also found a clay model of one of the faces dated 1913, and a small bronze-coated plaque of the same face, also dated 1913, that sold at auction in 2003. So the face may be older than the vase. We have not seen a vase dated before 1927.

Glazes and Marks

Sold and catalogued examples come in Ming Blue, Persian Rose, mulberry, Mountain Craig, and an aqua-green matte with a peach blush. The examples catalogued as 1920s to 1940s carry an incised AA monogram with “Van Briggle” and “Colo. Spgs.” and no date. We know of no reliable way to tell a 1927–1939 lamp-base example from a later reissue by the mark alone, so read the clay first: white clay is pre-1970, buff clay is 1970 or later (see Clay Body History). For telling a factory lamp base from a vase wired later, see our Van Briggle lamps guide.

• Maiden grinding corn. A kneeling woman at a grinding stone, also sold as the “Corn Grinder” or “Corn Maiden.” Most on the market are 5 to 6 inches tall, in white matte, turquoise, or Ming Blue. The Zanesville Museum of Art holds a much larger one, 15½ inches, dated about 1950, with the AA-in-a-box mark impressed on the back of the base. One auction house has catalogued the form as early 20th century, but the museum record and other catalogs place it mid-century or later.
• “Indian Maiden with Shell” (about 8 inches) and “Indian Maiden with Pot”, known from auction titles. We have not confirmed whether these are separate molds.
• “Little Star” plaque. A small oval wall plaque, about 5½ inches tall, with a relief bust of a girl wearing a headband and a single braid. The back is incised “Little Star” and “so ya he.” Recorded in matte yellow and satin maroon.
• “Indian Chief” plaques and paperweights. Small pieces cast from one of the faces on the Indian Head vase, including the 1913 examples above. Small oval plaques of a man’s face also turn up in Ming Blue.
• Standing figures. The pair pictured at the top of this page, a man in a blanket robe and a woman in a beaded necklace in turquoise matte, appears in our Novelties guide. We have not found a catalog name or date for them.

Check the mark’s position: on figures, the mark is often on the back or side of the base rather than underneath. Our Van Briggle pottery marks guide and dating guide cover the mark styles.

These ranges come from auction sales between 2020 and 2025. Dealer asking prices for maiden figures, often $99 to $225, are well above what they have been bringing at auction.

A 2024 appraisal column put the Indian Head vase at around $1,500 in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so prices have come down considerably. For values across all Van Briggle forms, see our Van Briggle value guide.

Indian Head vases go through regional auction houses and art pottery specialists such as Toomey & Co. and Rago a few times a year. The maiden figures and plaques mostly turn up at estate auctions, online estate sales, and in mixed lots of Van Briggle, where they are easy to underbid. On eBay and Etsy, filter for sold listings and ask for a photo of the mark before you buy. An unmarked figure is an attribution, not a confirmed Van Briggle.