Featured 2 Faced Ceramic Folk Art Tray?

This is a 2 faced ceramic or stoneware folk art style tray or dish that I purchased yesterday at a thrift store. It looks like 1 face is that of a bearded man and the other of a lady. I think they perhaps look Greek.

The tray measures about 12 1/2" in length and about 7" in width. On the bottom of the tray it's signed but I can't make out the signature. I've searched around and can't find anything like this tray.

Does anyone know the signature or who made the tray, where it may of been made and perhaps a time period that it may have been made (ceramics and glass can be difficult for me to date sometimes)?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

Roman numeral date 2002 maybe?

 

All I can do is join you in your curiosity.
Very interesting!

 

I wonder if thats MMA-museum of modern art? I love this!

 

I have a charger that looks very similar to this. Mine isn't in front of me right now but I believe the mark on mine was M. Rabetz. Maybe she had different marks in her pottery years ? She's an artist who's early work was in stoneware with incised decoration.
Don't know if it IS the same artist but might be worth looking into.
Here's a pic of mine I took to send to her for IDing.

 

I guess it could be a Roman numeral or possibly MMA. Calico, the M. Rabetz incised face and hair do resemble it.

 

This is just a theory, but it could be Greek. The way the faces are depicted is very similar to the style of some contemporary Greek painters who have influenced Greek pottery, too. Search for Dimitris Mytaras, Giorgos Stathopoulos and Alekos Fassianos, to name some of them...

 

Thanks Mat, it's a good theory. I've looked at some of the painters but haven't found one that has a name that looks similar to the cryptic spelling on this piece.

 

Me neither! I read Greek, but I cannot decipher it, too.

 

Maybe just a potter who was inspired by their style...