Alan Caiger-Smith and apprentices, Aldermaston Pottery

NaomiM wrote:Definitely Aldermaston, imo. The mark will be a combination of A for Aldermaston and a letter from their first or last name. We don’t have a definitive list of apprentice marks so it may not be identifiable. The incised S is probably the first letter of their Surname

I'm wondering if these incised letters are conventional thrower's marks, as they are underglaze.
Did all the decorators just decorate? If so, who threw the pots?

A couple more examples here of incised letters.

https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t3346p275-aldermaston-pottery#205020

https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t3346p275-aldermaston-pottery#211969

Some of the Aldermaston apprentices stayed on at the pottery so should probably be called employees, and marked their pots with incised or stamped monograms - Julian Bellmont, for example used a stamped J on his pots - presumably because other apprentices then practiced decorating them, (although often the thrower decorated the pot aswell), so they have the potter's or potters' written monogram, with A included in it for Aldermaston, and their personal stamped or incised monogram

Yes, but what I was suggesting was, were there throwers there who didn't decorate,
but just threw pots for the others to decorate?

No, it was too small for that. The pottery had a few longtime employees, but most were short term apprentices, and they all had to chip in and make the Aldermaston standard ware from start to finish

Aldermaston Pottery itself officially closed  closed in 1993. But a number of the potters stayed on. These included Alan  Caiger Smith, Andrew Hazelden, Charlotte Davis, Myra Mcdonnel, Ursula Waechter, and Nick Caiger Smith. All over various periods. They had a name sign as Aldermastom Pottery. But it was roughly loose cooperative. They all worked independently, but shared the general running costs and the general running of the workshop. It finally was closed in 2006.Over 13 years a lot of unusual marks might have occurred.

This is a Caiger -Smith lustre bowl I picked up recently

All the Alan Caiger Smith pieces are mixed up in the Aldermaston thread,
https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t3346-aldermaston-pottery?highlight=aldermaston

That is is an absolutely gorgeous piece. Lucky you! You do not see many of his Blue lustre pieces. What size is it?

Thanks, 27 cms diameter x 8 cms deep

Very nice