William (Bill) Marshall

So your pieces are all by Bill Marshall after the left the Leach St Ives pottery in 1977 then? The period that many people regard as his best period of work.

Not sure Philpot - the jug I bought from John Bedding at the Leach Pottery and the slab bottle from an auction.
My problem is I am playing catch up and I wouldn’t know how to tell.
I know about his studio at Lelant but I wouldn’t know how to tell whether it was made at the Leach or at Lelant.
Wish I could!!

All the pieces that Bill Marshall made at St Ives would have the St Ives mark on as well. We have a long thread on the Leach pottery which you might find of interest.
https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t9954-the-leach-pottery-st-ives-cornwall?highlight=bernard+leach

Yes - thanks I read it this morning - It was interesting!

Neil62 wrote:Not sure Philpot - the jug I bought from John Bedding at the Leach Pottery and the slab bottle from an auction.
My problem is I am playing catch up and I wouldn’t know how to tell.
I know about his studio at Lelant but I wouldn’t know how to tell whether it was made at the Leach or at Lelant.
Wish I could!!

The earthenware jug that you bought from St Ives Ceramics would have been made by Bill at his home in Lelant, using the earthenware mix of his son, Andrew. It would have been fired in his kiln along with some of Andrew's pots that was near to Bill's house. This would have been after his retirement from the Leach Pottery and the earthenware should contain St. Erth sand, which Andrew added to the earthenware to make it more durable.

The slab bottle looks to me Lelant made too.

I believe this is by Bill Marshall

Thanks so much. I thought it might be but wasn't entirely sure. Much appreciated

Difficult to be 100% sure when it’s not his stamped MW mark but the decoration looks like his

Thanks. That was my concern but then I am not an expert on his work, albeit would like to be!

looks like these examples of his incised mark


https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t17153-william-marshall-bill-marshall#195931

Thank you. I worry that mine is actually a bit too crude and the porcelain a bit thick to be anything other than a fake but it came in an auction job lot of studio pottery very cheaply but also included other good ones (one Aldermaston Mo Hamid) so perhaps the seller was house clearing and didn't know what they had.

He's one of the few well known potters that I don't have any of his work, nor handled any of his work, so I don't know what his potting technique is like.

He often incised his mark when he didn't have a stamp handy and his porcelain work is never thin.

No doubt it's by Bill.

A lovely Bill Marshall yunomi from the Bill Ismay collection at COCA York.June 2023.

This Bill Marshall dish was 32cms. Unfortunately it had a chip at the corner and did not sell. Equally, it is rather plain!