I have made some pieces and want to add a potters mark or signature. I thought this would be a simple thing to do, I have always just used my initials in the past.
When I first started to work with clay, at art school in my twenties, my initials were mainly to identify my work after firing. This was especially important, as we were given the dimensions of thrown items to work towards, and they were supposed to be identical. So, I have incised my initials on the base in the past. At university, I have fallen out of the habit of adding initials, as lots of work has been experimental and our projects were very different, and readily identifiable. I have inscribed my initials on the smaller pieces that I made this month, whilst I make a longer term decision going forward.
Potters Mark Placement
My university lecturers and technician use potters marks, although I can only visualise Caths' logo on her actual work. I know what Rob, Dave and Micaelas marks look like, but I cannot remember them on their actual pieces. From photos of Rob and Dave's work I can see that they impress their initials on the side of their work. I know that Micaela uses a logo based on her initials on her stand at ceramic fairs, and assume it is somewhere on her pieces. Even though I have looked at many of her pieces with her after firing, I can't actually remember seeing her potters mark.
This is not good at all in terms of my visual memory, but maybe this says something about potters marks and their placement. Cath's marks are more visible because they are underneath, where the clay is bare. Rob's initials are very striking as they are on the plinth, and although I have been surrounded by his work for three years, I had to look up the placement of his mark on his website. They disappear when looking at the piece, even though they are in plain sight. Which leads to the question, should I place my mark underneath, or should it be on the side? In terms of my larger work, it would surely 'disappear' if it were on the side, as there are lots of marks, including sgrafitto. I am not sure with the recent smaller vessel forms that are simpler and more geometric.
Potters marks are more complicated than just initials
I decided to take a look at potters marks in the library, and immediately realised that it was a lot more complicated than I had imagined. There is a book of British Studio Potters' Marks, it is organised by potters name.
The marks themselves are incised, impressed, printed and painted. So there are several methods of applying the marks to consider. I know that Kate Malone paints her name in oxides on her pieces, and Katie Timson has used printed decals in the past.
In addition the book has three indexes on the design of the marks themselves, 'which are based on the mark's image, e.g. creatures, monograms and signs, to help the user identify the potter.' I hadn't thought further than initials, certainly not about using a creature or a symbol. But maybe I need one, perhaps one of the peregrine falcons from the steeple opposite the student centre at university? Only joking.....
Making or Buying a potters stamp?
I could make a stamp, or buy one. I know some makers like Florian Gadsby create their own. I have some porcelain, and some fine modelling tools that should work well. I have sketched a lot of different possibilities, and will try to make a few designs to see how they turn out on clay. I am definitely going to try to make a peregrine falcon test stamp too, although I think it might be a bit of a challenge on such a small scale.
I have found a few companies that make potters stamps. Some products do not look very substantial, they look more like ink printing stamps. I am not sure how long they would last on my groggy clay. There are however two products that look more substantial, so if I find a good test stamp design, I have already identified a couple of places where I could get them made.
I have three things to do this week before I decide. Firstly, I have a mentoring session next week on branding and marketing, through the BCB, so I am going to ask for advice about this. Rob and Micaela use their potters mark on their stands at professional ceramics fairs. Secondly, I am doing a sign writing course with the festival of making and byUmberto. Thirdly, I am going to York Ceramics Fair with Mari next weekend. I have bought and looked at the work of lots of ceramicists, but have not paid enough attention to the bottom of their pieces in the past. This is something I plan to remedy at York, where I will be looking out for potters marks and asking lots of ceramicists to look at their 'bottoms'.
Update 4/3/23 Thinking about a potters mark in sign writing workshop with festival of making and byUmberto. I made the downstrokes thicker and made the two letters the same shape and size, just in reverse. I can now think about how to exaggerate, combine or rearrange these.
References
Coombes, R. (2006) ‘British Studio Potters’ Marks (2nd edition)’, Reference Reviews, 20(1), pp. 50–50. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/09504120610638681.
Yates-Owen, E. and Fournier, R.L. (2005) British studio potters’ marks. 2nd ed. London: A. & C. Black.
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