Re: Winchcombe Pottery

by **studio-pots** June 3rd 2021, 1:53 pm

abstract*toad wrote:Thanks Naomi, that would be handy, though if there are so many, as studio mentions, they must have spent a few bob on stamps lol.
Thousands Studio? Wow, that surprises me. Didn't think that they were all that common, shows what little I know.

I meant thousands of jugs and not thousands of potters!!

Well over 90% of the pots produced over the last 60 years has been the production of several different ranges of standard functional wares i.e. the same standard shapes with 3 or 4 different glaze decorations. The person who threw an item is often not going to be the person who glazed and/or fired the piece.

by **abstract*toad** June 3rd 2021, 6:46 pm

Hahaha, I didn't think there were thousands of potters, but thousands of jugs like this surprises me, if that's the case.

by **studio-pots** June 3rd 2021, 8:08 pm

Many of the pots was sold and used by local restaurants and hotels. I remember being there one day and someone from a local restaurant was there with a large lid in his hand. They had broken the bottom of a large lidded casserole and the man had brought along the lid to match the size and pattern. The good news was that he found exactly what he was looking for. However, the old lid was a better fit than the one being sold with it, so he still ended up with an extra lid.

by **denbydump** June 3rd 2021, 8:20 pm

But why would a glaze trial piece be fully decorated?

by **NaomiM** June 3rd 2021, 9:06 pm

denbydump wrote:But why would a glaze trial piece be fully decorated?

I vaguely recall being told that Ray Finch marked pieces with glaze codes every so often. It was obviously sold on to the public so there’s no reason why it wouldn’t be fully decorated. Waste not want not.

by **MCWebs** June 3rd 2021, 10:55 pm

I stumbled on this document online once, a scanned image of a document written by Ray Finch talking about marks at Winchcome - dont know if has been added to the forum at all?..

Thought might be useful... one for Naomi...

by **denbydump** June 19th 2021, 7:40 pm

A 59p charity find, Sidney Tustin oil bottle, thankfully with it's original stopper.

by **HelenC** June 25th 2021, 9:18 pm

A quick Winchcombe question- I know a single dot bottom left of the Winchcombe stamp indicates the pot was made personally by Ray Finch, but what about two dots top left? Does this have any significance? Here’s the pot-

by **NaomiM** June 25th 2021, 9:28 pm

Not seen a mark with two dots before. It’s standard ware so it wouldn’t normally have a personal stamp unless Ray made it. I suspect it was just a flaw in the stamp or a couple of dry bits of grogg stuck to it

by **RoyJ99** July 28th 2021, 10:22 pm

Picked up this lovely little vase today in the same antique shop as the Abuja tankard I posted earlier, am I correct in thinking that the inclusion of the dot on the mark means this was thrown by Ray Finch? It certainly has a Finchy feel to it.

by **philpot** July 28th 2021, 10:31 pm

Yes, although the dot mark is normally somewhat more prominent and a little further down. But he did lots of slight variations.

by **NaomiM** July 29th 2021, 12:34 am

I think there’s some doubt. Finch’s P extends further above the W, and the dot is clearer. This might just be a bit of clay or glaze on the surface.

by **denbydump** July 29th 2021, 9:05 am

NaomiM wrote:I think there’s some doubt. Finch’s P extends further above the W, and the dot is clearer. This might just be a bit of clay or glaze on the surface.

I tend to agree. The dot is usually more obvious, and further down from the W. Compare with the many examples here:

https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t12595-ray-finch

Notwithstanding, it's still a lovely vase.

by **denbydump** August 19th 2021, 10:34 am

A stoneware covered jar By Eddie Hopkins.

via Phil Oliver's website

Tragically, Eddie Hopkins died from complications after injuries received during the flooding of Winchcombe earlier in 2007. He will be greatly missed.

by **denbydump** August 25th 2021, 1:59 pm

A goblet with an unusual internal sprigged mark.

by **philpot** October 5th 2021, 11:43 am

Edited: made by Neil Alcock,

.

by **NaomiM** October 5th 2021, 12:10 pm

Neil Alcock was also at Winchcombe (1985-93) and has a very similar mark to the one often attributed to Nina Davis (who was there in the 70s). I'll email Alcock and see if he can clarify the issue.

by **NaomiM** October 5th 2021, 4:11 pm

Just had a reply back from Neil Alcock to say it's his ND mark on the Winchcombe pots, not Nina Davis. And he's still using the same stamp (which probably accounts for the bit of rounding at the edges of the letters).

by **olipayton** October 17th 2021, 11:51 am

A good well potted vase probably by a talented student

by **NaomiM** October 31st 2021, 9:03 pm

Lovely salt pig

by **NaomiM** November 2nd 2021, 5:41 pm

Winchcombe Pottery at the Oxford Ceramics Fair. Two apprentice made pieces stamped JF. Closest I can find is Joseph Fuller who started at Winchcombe in 2016, but it's not the same JF stamp that he's got on his instagram account.