Since joining this site, I've seen a lot of marks on ceramics. Most I've seen are small, non assuming. Some are hard to read if not totally illegible. Here is an example of someone who wanted there to be no mistaking who made this. Even included his phone number All I know about this pot is that, about thirty years ago while vacationing in San Diego, my mother just insisted we take a drive up the coast to this guys place in Santa Barbara. She bought some pieces and this is the one I ended up with. It's pretty large, approx 14x7. Looked him up online but couldn't find out much. A few small pieces available. Anyone heard of him? Does it look quality? All comments appreciated.
You were in San Diego and drove all the way to Santa Barbara???? Your mother must have been really serious about going to meet him. Interesting that his name in the center says Boydston while the one on the edge says Boydsted.
Could your mother have added the second name and phone number? Bakers, I think the edge one says Boydston as well. Capital printed "N" in felt pen spread.
Found a Santa Barbara City Directory from 1977 listing him at the 94 Humphrey address under the heading of Potteries in the commercial section. So it does appear that this was his profession.
That is correct. I'ts only a couple hundred miles of ocean views. Plus, the next day we hit six flags magic mountain.
Not a chance of that. That was all on the piece when she bought it. Plus, that is far from my mothers hand You could be right, but there were quite a few pieces in this guys studio. Possibly a hundred or more all around the place, of all shapes and sizes. So are you saying amateurish?
Not at all. He's listed in the commercial section of the directory under Potteries. An amateur doesn't get listed in the directory that way but a professional potter does. Absolutely nothing I said in the post you quoted implied that he was an amateur.
He's in the Marks Project but not a lot of info. There are other pieces of his sold online but most are more refined and signed less aggressively . https://www.themarksproject.org/marks/boydston
Please forgive me my last post. I misread your post. Thought you said "it probably wasn't his profession". To be honest it probably wasn't his only profession at the time. Unless your selling a lot of expensive pieces consistently, you probably may have problems meeting your monthly obligations. Especially living in California. I appreciate all your comments Bakersgma. Next time I'll read everything more carefully. Sometimes when I get on this site, I don't have a lot of time, so I hurry through things.