Bowl, incised decoration

A 9" diameter bowl, seems to have some age about it. Simple bold incised decoration. Unmarked, I've no idea of its origin - I guess that it is just as likely to be East European as domestic. The giveaway may be the underside with the unglazed lower part.

What do you mean by 'incised' ? Normally this type of decoration is a simple wavy finger drawn through the wet slip clay. It is a popular decorative technique with country potters, and studio potteries like Winchcombe. It looks to have some age, and the slightly reddish brown colour indicates a West country clay which is rich in iron.

“Finger swipe” decoration.
I’m seeing an incised RJ mark on the foot rim. I’m not seeing the quality I’d expect from a professional potter; a keen hobby potter, maybe,

philpot wrote:   What do you mean by 'incised' ?   Normally this type of decoration is a simple wavy finger drawn through the wet slip clay. It is a popular decorative technique with country potters, and studio potteries like Winchcombe. It looks to  have some age, and the slightly reddish brown colour indicates a  West country clay which is rich in iron.

And some Welsh pottery has a reddish brown base Cynwyd Pottery for example

Incised... with the fingers!

Thanks for the pointers everyone. Sadly no RJ in the flesh, Naomi - just a trick of the light on the rough surface.

Trick of the light?





Welsh is possible; there were a few ‘one man bands’ based there in the 60s-70s who went unrecorded