1960's St Ives lampbase, JS mark. John Shelly maybe

This one may divide opinion. Purchased in the 1960's from the St Ives studio, but the mark is not a St Ives stamp, as far as I know.
Looks more like the mark used by John Shelley, to my eyes at least.
I'm baffled, anyone any ideas as to who the potter is and how it was sold from St Ives ?
I'm certain that it was purchased there. The buyer of this kept a meticulous record of what they had bought and from where it came, along with when it was purchased. Unfortunately, they have now passed on.
Any help with this piece welcomed.

One more of the impressed mark.

Did St Ives ever make lamp bases? Not seen one before.

When you say St. Ives do you mean the Leach Pottery or another pottery or studio there?

He'd got it marked as the Leach Pottery, which I'm certain it's not.
Everything else I had from this person's collection tallies up perfectly, date wise and the markings, except this one piece, very odd.

I know very little about the Leach Pottery, so cannot comment with any great conviction as to whether other potters (in the 1960's) could make something there and not include the St Ives seal along with their own mark. This seems unlikely to me, but is it a possibility?

I think John Shelly is the best fit for the mark, but no mention of him being at St Ives. Possibly they were just stocking it as a favour to the potter or maybe he potted there while on holiday (if that was ever allowed)

Similar to this mark for John Shelly

Thanks Naomi. I agree (reference the mark), it looks like one of his, but how it ended up down there is beyond me. Maybe, as you mention, they were selling pots for other folk also.

Reference lamp bases made there, comment by Denby. No, I've not seen or been able to find any reference to any either, so it seems an unlikely fit, what with the mark also being wrong. Having said that, as I mentioned previously, some of you folk will have forgotten more than I actually know about St Ives.

Thanks everyone for your help, greatly appreciated

There was a Tim Stampton who worked at the Leach St Ives 1965-67 but there is no record of his actual mark.

If it was made at the pottery, even by a potter on sabbatical, then I'd expect it to be accompanied by the St Ives mark

Agreed Naomi. The phrase 'St Ives Studio' needs clarification. Lamp bases were never ever part of the standard ware range. indeed I don't think I have ever seen a lamp base from a significant Leach potter. They were never ever part of the whole Leach Anglo/Oriental ethos.

philpot wrote:There was a Tim Stampton who worked at the Leach St Ives 1965-67 but there is no record of his actual mark.

Thanks for the link philpot. Ill look into this and will update if I discover anything relevant.
Regards St Ives studio, I should have put Leach St Ives studio in the title, as that is where the buyer documented its purchase being from.

I contacted Tim Stampton and he kindly responded. He confirmed that this was not one of his pieces, but did say that similar pieces were made there in his time at the studio. Unfortunately, he has no idea as to whom the mark belongs to.
It may well be, as previously mentioned, a JS mark for John Shelley.

John Shelly lived near Totnes from 1961 to 1995. There were several galleries in that area in those years including Dartington near Totnes and the Devon Guild at Bovey Tracey. Both these are very near the A38. If he travelled from up country it would have been very easy to buy from those outlets while on his journey,

It was possibly one of several pieces in an exhibition at the Leach studio, the original buyer was adamant it came from there.

Then of course, what do you mean by 'Leach Pottery'? David Leach lived at Bovey Tracey and showed frequently in those two local galleries!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Bernard Leach's pottery in St Ives, Cornwall.

I am not being funny abstract. But memories play tricks. Unless you write it down or have a receipt or some evidence, then an exact memory of where you bought every single object in a collection from 60 years ago would be unusual. I can't remember where I got things from 20 years ago!

I agree Phil, just from my own day to day experience of my own failings, memory wise, what you say makes perfect sense.
With regards the base and the person who bought it, he was thorough in his records of what he'd bought, where he'd got it and when. Saying that, it's possible a mistake has been made, I won't rule that out, but it would surprise me greatly.
I think it's probably fair to say that I'll not be getting to the bottom of this mystery piece.