Large wood-fired jug - any ideas as to maker?

This fairly large wood-fired (I think)  jug dates back to mid 70s/80s and has no makers mark but is well made. Are there any tell-tale signs that might point to a maker? The combed decoration just below the rim is identical to a huge Svend Bayer pot I have, but the proportions otherwise don’t seem quite right.

All thoughts appreciated

classy jug a bit reminiscent of svend bayer imo

Didn’t appear to be the same handle shape as Svend Bayer jugs

After much consideration, I think this is early  Svend Bayer. Here’s some comparisons with a jug I bought direct from Svend around 22 years ago, there are many stylistic similarities, particularly the confident tapering to a narrow base and the way the spout sits- it did come with a couple of other definite Svend Bayer pots in the box too! 

I thought it was by Svend, the second I saw it

Thanks - of course, that means I’ll have to keep it now as I could only sell it on as unmarked. What a shame

Was it Charlie Collier who was making unmarked jugs in the “Svend Tradition”? They caused a lot of confusion at the time. Obviously well after this jug was made.

Your last mark is quite revealing. You still have a scintilla of doubt?
That wavy line at the top of the jug which can be seen clearly in the first photo. Svend Bayer's production work was very spartan indeed. He made a point of giving no decoration. So that line would be unusual.

Quite a distinctive swipe left and right at the bottom of your jug’s handle, which I’m not finding on Bayer’s pieces

Hi, the same wavy line is at the top of both pots, and while not identical in form it is identical in execution i.e. proportion of down to up stroke. The biggest pot is definitely by Svend, he helped me pick it out! 

I’m not expert enough to pass it off as definitely or even probably by Svend Bayer, but I’m happy to keep it in my collection and think of it as such.

Its a very nice jug. We were only having this debate the other day about potter's marks, and the problem with work that is not marked, or one does not know the mark. In the end it is all down to how you personally enjoy the piece.

Thank you - to be honest the process of looking closely and carefully and thinking about what factors to consider when trying to identify unmarked pottery has been very useful and enjoyable, and I’ll probably be a little bit better at it next time!

I was watching some training videos of potters pulling handles awhile back. They fix the top and then let it dangle while deciding on how much curve to give it. Then some fix it at the bottom with a couple of swipes or more, while others 'punch' it in so there's no loss of thickness of the handle at the base. Svend seems to do the latter while the smaller jug seems to be the former, and it also has a distinctive finger or thumb swipe down the middle of the handle.

HelenC wrote:Thank you - to be honest the process of looking closely and carefully and thinking about what factors to consider when trying to identify unmarked pottery has been very useful and enjoyable, and I’ll probably be a little bit better at it next time!

Sounds like you are doing ok as is Helen.
Beautiful pot.