Stoneware vase with incised MF, any ideas anyone.

Tall stoneware vase with brown to beige glaze. The mark is the best I could get, the letter on the left, does have another leg, forming the M, but it is quite faint and I couldn't get it and the rest of the mark at the same time. Not sure where we even purchased it from, it has been several years.
Thank You in advance.
Jack

It's probably a long shot, but I wonder if this might be an early piece by Michael Frimkess (see my entry under American Potters). In your photo, there appears to be a horizontal line that links the M to the F at the bottom; this could make it a conjoined MJF (Michael J. Frimkess). I don't know how you might go about confirming, as he used at least 3 and maybe 4 different signatures that I am aware of, and it is difficult to find examples of them. You might try contacting Garth Clark who represented Frimkess at one time; he might recognize the style and/or signature. If the piece is thrown with particularly thin walls, that might be a clue. If it is indeed made by Frimkess it would be very valuable. IMO it is a very attractive piece. What is the size?

There isn't any line at the bottom of the letters. the only signatures I could find for him was his full name and 'Frim'. The thickness is what I would consider average, with most of the weight on the base, but the walls are thinner than typical stoneware. I will pursue your suggestion and try contacting Mr. Clark. The height is 31.8 cm., not a small piece. Yes, we also think it is very nice, I am especially attracted to stoneware. Just searching for images of his work, I could only find work that had decorative walls and no stoneware. It would be wonderful to have a piece of his, regarding value, since we only have about $20 in it, we really don't purchase pieces based on their value, only if we like them, regardless of their purchase price, though cheaper is always better. Many thanks for your thoughts, I assure you it will be pursued, with much appreciation.
Jack

Well, like I mentioned, it's probably a long shot and perhaps it was too hasty a suggestion. Most of the Frimkess I've seen is also decorated, that's why I thought perhaps an early piece (I'm sure he didn't come up with that comic strip stuff from the beginning). To my knowledge though he always used stoneware which he could throw large and eggshell thin. I've been to his studio and seen many pieces of his work (and a friend of mine has about 10 pieces), all stoneware.

The size and shape of your piece remind me of F. Carlton Ball's work, and though I don't know what the MF could stand for in that case, I have a piece of Ball's work that is clearly incised OTP, but the actual signature (FC Ball) has almost disappeared in the firing. I have seen several pieces by him and others where this is the case. What causes this is stoneware clay is very smooth when it is thrown and dries, but when it is high fired (to cone 10) the piece shrinks up to 20% and the smoothness of the unfired clay gives way to the gritty, sandy texture we usually associate with stoneware. If the signature has not been deeply incised, for instance, written with a dull pencil, sometimes the texture of the fired clay exceeds the depth of the signature making it very difficult to see. Being aware of this phenomenon (because it has happened to my work), I am sometimes able to discern signatures on pots that at first glance appear to be unsigned. I only mention it because in your photo of the full base, it looks as if there may be very faint additional writing below the "MF". Sorry to ramble on so long, but sometimes I get carried away on the subject of pottery.