John Shelly / Solly? - MCWebs, split from Ebay/Car Boot thread

[NaomiM]

This weeks pickings =



John  shelly small jug, mull pottery marmalade jar, tony gant straw vase and a large mike powers cheese dish and cover...

Dont know what the FS mark is on the john shelly... perhaps name of the pottery?

Maybe Frank Smith?

[MCWebs]

not sure 2 potters would be needed to make a small green jug?

[studio-pots]

They are the marks of John Solly and Frank Smith, whose potteries were maybe half a mile a part in Kent. It could have been from when Frank was setting up and John was helping him get started with tips, glazing etc.

[MCWebs]

Many thanks for the extra info - always very much appreciated

[MCWebs]

Its john shelly not solly btw, john solly didnt have a tail to top of J...

[studio-pots]

You are correct that there isn't a John Solly mark like this in the book but there is a mark like this attributed to John Shelly when he was at the Bath Pottery making earthenware.

However, the FS is definitely Frank Smith, who began potting under his own name in Kent in 1976, after starting out with Colin Pearson in Aylesford. His work was the first studio pottery I ever bought back in 1988 directly from him at the pottery and the stoneware body of your jug matches one that he used.

In 1976 John Shelly was living in Devon and I am not even sure if he was actively potting at that time. In any case I know of no connection between the two and they lived 250 miles apart. Therefore I can't see any likelihood of John Shelly having any connection with the piece.


In 1976 John Solly wasn't down the road from Frank but potting 25 miles away (he moved down the road from Frank in 1986). However, I know that he had connections with the David Leach & Colin Pearson, as David told me that he got many of his glazes recipes from John Solly when David was making earthenware at Lowerdown in the late 1950s. Hence the reason for me saying the JS on your jug was a John Solly mark.

Obviously, I might be incorrect about John Solly being responsible for glazing the jug, which I was suggesting, but it does fit much better than John Shelly, who only used this mark 20 years earlier at the Bath Pottery.

When I saw your correction to my post something else came to mind and that was that I remembered Frank saying that his wife had been involved in the pottery in the early days. I have checked and found out that Mrs. Smith's first name was Jean so.......... maybe another option?

[NaomiM]

The JS mark has been attributed to John Shelly several times, and John Solly has been discounted or someone has asked him - I have a note saying Not John Solly - but if Frank Smith wasn’t at Bath Pottery then it’s more likely that the JS is neither of them but instead belongs to Jean Smith.
I’ve added “Jean Smith?” to the titles of various threads with these marks so we can find them again

Another example here -

An example of the JS mark on its own, attributed to John Shelley but I think that now needs to be verified because it’s so similar to the JS on the Frank Smith piece.



An example of John Shelley’s mark



An example of the JS mark plus a mystery LJ mark. Did Frank and Jean have any children who joined them potting? It’s possible it’s not JS but an SJ monogram



Another example of the LJ mark, paired with a shield? mark

[MCWebs]

closest mark i've seen is the Fournier Book mark and looks like the John Shelly mark to me even the elongated outer fits - John Shelly to me...

[MCWebs]

definately not Jean Smith's work

[NaomiM]

The JS mark is too close to John Shelly’s in the Marks book not to be his, imo, so I’m going to say JS = John Shelly and not John Solly.
We don’t know Jean Smith’s mark (Frank Smith’s wife) as she’s not in the book.
So that must mean the FS mark isn’t Frank Smith

[studio-pots]

The JS mark is too close to John Shelly’s in the Marks book not to be his, imo, so I’m going to say JS = John Shelly and not John Solly.
We don’t know Jean Smith’s mark (Frank Smith’s wife) as she’s not in the book.
So that must mean the FS mark isn’t Frank Smith

Then we have a difference of opinion. I feel you both seem to be using everything in the "Book" as being "gospel" and definitive, which it is not and has never suggested it is.

Of course, you might be correct but I don't see that there is enough evidence to draw the conclusions that you have.

[studio-pots]

The grey glaze on this example looks very much like that developed by John Solly, the recipe of which he gave to David Leach for his earthenware made at Lowerdown in the 1950s.

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