Bette Beazley

Designer	Bette Beazley
Maker	Bette Beazley
Marks	Stamped “BB” inside circle.  Letters had trailing line from end of “B”
Material	Glazed Earthenware
Description	Hand thrown glazed earthenware bowl with scooped (similar to Arabia) handle angled slightly upwards from centre of exterior of bowl.  Brown matte glaze to interior and exterior. Unglazed base.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	1980s
Width at rim	107mm
Width at Base	65mm
Depth	45mm
Length (with handle)	160mm
Weight	320gm
Volume	325ml
Acquisition	Purchase Red Cross, Hampstead Gardens SA 19 December 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	BEA 001-003

Bette Beazley was a prolific potter worked first at Long Jetty in the Gosford area on the central coast of NSW from the 1960s to the 1980s. She made works in a wide variety of styles and sold her wares and taught pottery, first from her home, then from an A-Frame studio she had built at 310 The Entrance Road, Long Jetty. In the late 1980s she relocated to Sal’s Lane, on a semi-rural property in nearby Tumbi Umbi.  Her painted pieces usually featured delicate designs of Australian wildflowers, while her more modern plates and vases often displayed incised or impressed decoration. She also made pieces with applied floral decoration, and even a range of garden ornaments, with dragons and other fantasy creatures.

She continued making pottery there using an electric kiln in a small studio at the rear of the house and another kiln outside.  She made thrown and handmade pieces influenced by the ocean as well as whimsical figurative sculptures, including dragons. She signed her works with either an incised, painted or stamped 'BB'.    These works were sold from the pottery and through local galleries and gift shops.  A small number of her work was marked as “Woodbine Studios”.

She ceased working in 1988 when her home was sold, along with her pottery equipment before moving again.  Bette and her husband Viv (Vivian George) a retired motor mechanic then moved to Bateau Bay, close to their old home at Long Jetty.  Bette died around 1997 with Viv passing away about a year later.  Any further information would be appreciated.

Thanks to Australian Pottery at Bemboka for much of this information.

Mystery Maker Unmarked No 11

Designer	Not known
Maker	Not known
Marks	No marks
Material	Glazed earthenware
Description	Circular mould formed  bowl tapering at top and bottom. Unglazed foot ring.  Brown gloss drip glaze to interior and top third of exterior of bowl.  Matte white underglaze.  Heavy handle splayed slightly outwards from body, ending in a rolled turn under at end.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	Not known, possibly late 1980s.
Width at rim	90mm
Width at Base	85mm
Depth	53mm
Length (with handle)	180mm
Weight	320gm
Volume	425ml
Acquisition	Purchase Vinnies, Cowes, Phillip Island 13 December 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	MMU 11-001-006

Preston, Reg

Designer	Reg Preston
Maker	Reg Preston
Marks	Painted “P” To base in black.
Material	Glazed Slip
Description	Wheel thrown, hand moulded conical bowl with indented tab handle.  Grey semi gloss glaze with white glaze to handle.  Unglazed foot ring
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	Late 1960s
Width at rim	111mm
Width at Base	63mm
Depth	60mm
Length (with handle)	157mm
Weight	185gm
Volume	375ml
Acquisition	Purchase Mill Antiques Ballarat 27 November 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	PRE 001

Reginald (Reg) Preston was born in Sydney, New South Wales on the 18^th of March 1917.  In his early years, he travelled to London in 1937 after a meeting with Ola Cohn (Melbourne Fairy Tree) where he studied sculpture at the Westminster School of Art in 1938, a private college located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans yard, Westminster, the school was part of the old Architectural Museum.

He returned to Australia at the beginning of the Second-World-War.  He was attracted to pottery after watching Alan Lowe.  Although often cited as being self-taught, Reg spent a short time potting at the Melbourne Technical College under John Barnard Knight and Klytie Pate in 1944.  He then began working at Cooper and Cooke (Ceramics) Pty Ltd pottery at Glenhuntly, Melbourne in 1945-1946.  This company produced mostly ceramic insulators during the war but switched to producing Ceramic electric jugs later on.  Reg had also set up a studio in his home in 1945.

In 1947 he moved to the bush area of Warrandyte and began working full time as a potter, making a range of domestic and decorative wares, although he claims to have set up his own studio in 1945.  In the early 1950s, he and his first wife Joan, along with Katie Janeba and Alex Goyda were operating and selling in the “Parsons Gully Gallery” making and selling a range of earthenware.  He held his first solo exhibition in Melbourne in 1958.

In 1958, Reg married his apprentice, potter Phyl Dunn.  After a talk from Alan Lowe, they set up the “Potters Cottage” at Warrandyte, along with Gus and Beth McLaren, Charles Wilton and Artur and Sylvia Halpern.  The group began in Osbourne Road in a shed on Meg Nicholas’ property.  Reg and Betty Hipwell had organized the purchase of a potters wheel and moved in from Ferntree Gully.  Reg was also now doing some work in English Slip.  During this early peiod, Reg & Phyl were using the brand name “Ceres” on some work.  Ceres is the name of the Roman God of agriculture.  Some of their work at this time was made with pseudo-aboriginal motifs. 

Phyl had been studying painting with Daniela Vasieleff. Painters Elizabeth and Daniela Vasilieff were working there along with other artists Harry and Marie Hudson, Wally Manders and Inga and Graham King.  Originally Phyll had seen Merric Boyd working at the Primrose Pottery Shop in Melbourne, and seen a film on African pottery.  Michael Cardew had been working in Africa around this time and had influenced several English potters who had traveled there, later returning to England.

Reg once said of his work: "I quite simply make pots that please me. They are derived from a number of factors, the clay itself, the firing, other pots from other ages; these factors have over the years of work been gradually assimilated and become unconscious. The best ideas for me come from pots and from long bouts of continuous work. I find continuity of thought about the pots that I'm making day to day to be the time that is most fruitful. Occasionally when all the thought about the process, the technical knowledge merge and become one, then days later you might get from the kiln one or two pots that stand as it were 'on their own legs' detached and quite apart

Reg began making stoneware with vitreous or metallic glazes in 1967.  Stoneware is fired at a higher temperature to earthenware.  Many of these pieces have striking abstract patterns.  He continued well into the 1980s making larger decorative pieces.

In 1982, they moved to Woolamai on Phillip Island with friends Mr & Mrs Edna Witt.  Charles Wilton and Eric Juckert were also working there at the time.  They continued to work there until 1995.  Phyl died in 1999.

Reg is an acknowledged master and has pieces in collections such as the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Powerhouse Museum, Queensland University of Technology museum and many smaller regional galleries.  Many pieces were donated by Reg’s Executor, potter John Dermer.

Ganymede Enterprise Co Ltd

Designer	Similar to many other Asian made ramekins
Maker	Ganymede Enterprise
Marks	Impressed “Stoneware Taiwan” around base
Material	Glazed slip
Description	Mass-produced machine pressed mid-brown glazed slip bowl with unglazed footring.  Darker brown colour to rim.  Dimpled tab handle attached to to of rim containing air hole to underside.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	Early 1980s
Width at rim	110mm
Width at Base	60mm
Depth	47mm
Length (with handle)	140mm
Weight	235gm
Volume	250mm
Acquisition	Purchase Salvo Stores October 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	GAN 001-006

In the early 1970s, the floodgates opened in Australia to imports from Asia.  One of the industries most affected was inhabited by studio potters.  To add insult to injury, many of the designs used by these imports looked suspiciously like those of the local makers.  Like the Chinese, Japanese and the Koreans, the Taiwanese makers also produced ramekins similar to those of Australian makers such as Raynham.  Even though Raynham was then owned by Bendigo Pottery. 

These Taiwanese ramekins were most likely supplied by Ganymede Enterprise Company Limited.  The company began in 1975 and exported products made by around 200 companies around Taiwan.  They have a design department and also have manufacturing plants in Canton and Shanghai, China.  Their products include ceramic tableware, glassware, stainless steel, plastic homewares and bathroom products.  They export to Europe, Canada and the US as well as Australia.

Pottery and Ceramics are a major industry in the country, most notable presented at the town of Yingge, about an hour drive south-west from the capital Taipei.  It is named for the eagle shaped rock on the town’s north side.  Pottery has been made there for over 200 years when famous Chinese potter Wu An moved in to take advantage of the clay found there.  The Yingge Ceramics Museum opened in 2000 and is on the other side of town.  It is a three-storey steel framed glass building and is about 15 minutes walk from Pottery Street.   

“Old Street”, re-named “Pottery Street” is home to dozens of pottery shops.  At one time there were over 800 potters working there.  The area has been re-built and top quality ceramics can be found in most of the shops.  Don’t expect any bargains though.  They know what therir products are worth and are priced accordingly.  A landmark in the area is the remains of an old kiln called “Square Kiln” surmounted by a chimney flue.  It appears to be a rectangular downdraught kiln.

Tienshan

Designer
Maker	Tienshan (Shandong Silver Phoenix Co Ltd)
Marks	No marks
Material	Earthenware slip
Description	Large bowl with a waisted top and knob handle with hole to underside.  Unglazed foot ring.  Matte white glaze to entire body.  Transfer print on side of bowl.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	1980s
Width at rim	120mm
Width at Base	105mm
Depth	70mm
Length (with handle)	210mm
Weight	325gm
Volume	750mm
Acquisition	Purchase Salvo Stores
Rameking Reference Number	TSH 001-004

Go tell Aunt Rhody

Go tell Aunt Rhody

Go tell Aunt Rhody

The Old Grey Goose Is Dead.

This pattern comes from the Tienshan “Aunt Rhody” collection.  The pattern is “Country Goose” and features a blue goose with a polka dot bow tie.

Tien Shan, is a large mountain range located in Central Asia.  Tienshan pottery is made by Tienshan Incorporated who is not, as the name implies, a Chinese company.  It began in Norwalk Connecticutt, USA in 1978.  Their headquarters is at Suite 1 231 Wilson Street.  They also have an office at 41 Madison Avenue, mid-town New York.  Sakura Incorporated, another porcelain company also operates at the address.  They manufacture stoneware and porcelain dinnerware in China and export overseas. 

I think that they get the Shandong Silver Phoenix Company Limited to actually make their pottery.  This prize winning, top ten ceramics company has over 3,000 employees and is located at 58 Jinqueshan Road, Linyi, Shandong, China.  The company was established in 1957 and produces 1000 lines of high volume (120 million items per annum) porcelain, stoneware and genuine bone china.  They make hotel ware as well as tea and coffee sets.  They export to sixty countries and produce goods for a number of other makers including Churchill in the UK.

Robert Gordon Pottery

Designer	Homage to June Dyson ramekin from 1960s
Maker	Robert Gordon
Marks	Stamped “Cutie Pies Robert Gordon Australia made in china” in black ink to base.
Material	Glazed slip
Description	Gloss glazed slip in pale pastel colours.  Mould formed with flat handle moulded to top of rim, splayed at end.  Unglazed foot ring.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	1990s
Width at rim	110mm
Width at Base	65mm
Depth	65mm
Length (with handle)	140mm
Weight	280gm
Volume	300ml
Acquisition	Purchase Waverly Antiques 24 October 2014
Rameking Reference Number	RGP 001 to 004

Just like mother used to make.  That is what you could say about these ramekins.  Similar in design to earlier June Dyson ramekins.  The “Cutie Pies” range is no longer made, but these examples survive.  These ramekins are stamped “made in china” as part of the base.  The full stamp says “Cutie Pies Robert Gordon Australia made in china”.  Earlier works made in Gembrook at the Pack Track Pottery are hand painted with “Robert Gordon” or just, “Gordon” in oxide. Wares made at the Robert Gordon Pottery in Pakenham are stamped 'Robert Gordon Pottery Australia', 'Robert Gordon Pottery Australian Made' or 'Robert Gordon Australia'. But the story and inspiration for Robert Gordon dates long before. 

Andy’s mother, the renowned Australian potter June Dyson, first set up her studios in 1945. June formed a partnership with her husband Colin who became the company’s business director. And it was June’s second son Robert Andrew “Andy” Gordon, who showed most interest in the pottery, helping out in the studios from his early twenties. It was inevitable that Andy would one day follow in his mother’s footsteps.  And having married his English wife Barbara, the couple set about building their dream.

  

June Dyson Ramekins from the 1950s or 60s.

Over thirty years ago, in 1979, ‘Andy’ walked into a ten by eight foot tin shed in Gembrook, a small town in the Dandenong Ranges outside Melbourne, picked up a lump of clay and turned his potters wheel. The “Pack Track Pottery” was born. Production was transported to St Kilda Sunday market and other locations around Melbourne.  Sales increased and larger premises were needed.

One of Robert Gordon early unglazed earthenware ramekins

By 1987 the company had outgrown the tin shed and needed to expand. Two factories in Pakenham were bought and Robert Gordon had grown from a tin shed with a dirt floor to a large purpose built headquarters.  It was also the time to bring new staff into the business. Andy and Barbara didn’t have to look far, their four children Hannah, Kate, Bobby and Sam all joined the business. History had repeated with a third generation in pottery.  Eventually up to 100 people were employed, but cheaper imports caused the business to suffer and contract to one location.  Now their children are an integral part of the company. Each one plays a different and vital role, helping to shape Robert Gordon today. More than sixty years of heritage and three generations of potters. Robert Gordon. Proud of its past, its future fired with imagination.

Robert Gordon is one of the last remaining production potteries in Australia, responsible for over 150,000 individual products per year (think tableware, kitchenware and other high-end ceramic homewares).  In addition to this impressive output, in recent years the business has diversified, and now imports selected product from all over the world to complement their core range of locally manufactured product.  From their headquarters and factory in Pakenham, Robert Gordon now employs around 40 people, stocks over 3000 independent retailers in Australia, the U.S.A, Canada, U.K and New Zealand.

Around 4 tonnes of clay is used each week.  The clay is sourced in New South Wales, milled at Clayworks in Dandenong Victoria.  Clayworks produces a wide range of earthenware and porcelain clays.  The milled clay is then shipped to Pakenham.  Their hollow ware is slip cast and their flatware is ram-pressed by machine.  Some products are still hand thrown.

For more, look at this website;  http://thedesignfiles.net/2014/02/family-portrait-the-gordons/

Creigiau

Designer	Reg Sutcliffe
Maker	Creigiau Pottery
Marks	Stamped “Creigiau Wales” in blue ink to underside of bowl and plate
Material	Stoneware
Description	Hand-made glazed and incised stoneware bowl and saucer with grey glaze to entire surface; lightly applied brown overglaze on exterior.  Wedge handle attached to upper third of bowl, angled upward with end excised with lines.  Glazed dimpled foot ring.
Condition	Very good.  One bowl cracked through
Number	No number
Production Date	Late 1970s
Width at rim	112mm
Width at Base	63mm
Depth	60mm
Length (with handle)	167mm
Weight	235gm
Volume	375ml
Acquisition	Purchase E-Bay 18 August 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	CRE 001-016

Reginald George Southcliffe was an accountant who was born in June 1912 in Newport, Monmouthshire in Wales, UK.  In his early years, his interest in chemistry led to an interest in glazing ceramics.  He began experimenting with glazes on pottery that he made at his home.  This led to him becoming a full-time potter.   With an accountants fastidiousness, he looked long and hard for the right location for his pottery.  In 1947, he found it in the Creigiau region on Efail Esaf Road and bought land at the former Hendresguthan Fach Farm.  The area had been recorded as “potters land” as early as 1420.   It is just past the “Ceasars Arms” hotel, once the largest employer in the area.

Creigiau is a commuter area of around 1000 houses and 2,500 people to the north-west of Cardiff, the capital of Wales.  Creigiau’s claim to fame was its quarry.  The dolomite pit opened in the 1870s to supply stone to build Cardiff docks.  Later, the limestone and magnesium dolomite was used in the steel making process.    

Reg and his wife Jean began the Southcliffe Ceramic Company at Creigiau.  (The next year the name was changed to “Creigiau Pottery.”  They experienced problems early on with cuts to electricity, lack of coal and poor quality coal.  A purchase tax was also imposed on their goods, creating further problems to the fledgling business.  Their pottery mark was at different times incised, impressed or printed.  They produced domestic table and decorative wares in earthenware with incised decoration and a greyish glaze partially covering the brown body and throwing the design into relief. 

Reg later took over the Claypits Pottery at Ewenny after potters Thomas A, and D Jenkins retired.  Reg re-named it the “Vale Pottery.”  Helyg had been founded in 1820 by Evan Jenkins. It was later taken over by new owners and re-named the “Helyg Pottery.”  Helyg continues in Ilkley, North Yorkshire.

Practice makes perfect they say, and so it was with Reg.  His specialty became a revival of Welsh copper lusterware.  There had been a tradition in Wales of making Copper Lustre ware going back over 200 years.  This skill had sadly died out in the late 19^th Century but Reg worked hard to re-learn the skills.  Creigiau became well-known for reproduction antique jugs and coffee sets in lustre.  They exported this ware throughout the world until the late 1970s when they were forced to close.  The craft shop at the pottery was well frequented by tourists until then. 

Reg died in June, 1981 and Jean continued to hand-make pots for another two years before she retired in 1983.  Jean Howden Southcliffe died in 2000 in Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Wales.

  

Geo

Designer	George Guccione
Maker	George Guccione
Marks	Incised “Geo” to base
Material	Clay
Description	Wheel thrown bowl with unglazed foot ring.  Light green glaze to interior and exterior with black oxide colour to rim and lip.  Angled closed end handle to exterior with small hole to closed end.
Condition	Good
Number	No number
Production Date	Late 1970s/early 1980s
Width at rim	130mm
Width at Base	73mm
Depth	50mm
Length (with handle)	168mm
Weight	295gm
Volume	375ml
Acquisition	Purchase Murray Bridge second hand shop 29 April 2014.
Rameking Reference Number	GEO 001-006

How these came to Australia or when is anybody's guess. They appear to have been made by George Guccione who began as a potter in 1968 and is still working from his home studio Georamics in Mission Viejo, Orange County California USA at the Geo Guccione Pottery. Even though he has been a potter for over 45 years, he has had a variety of other jobs during that time. He has a BA from Long Beach State (1966) and an MA from Whittier College (1972). As well as a potter, he has been a bartender (who hasn't), ATM technician, collection agent (not an easy job) announcer and ceramics instructor.

George hand throws and makes all his output and his motto is “One of a kind made one at a time.” His work is all stoneware and porcelain and hand thrown. His work fits in well with my philosophy of collecting functional pieces as George makes only food related products, being for cooking, serving, eating and drinking. Although he will do commissions. His work is microwave safe, but these appear to be earlier pieces and I won't have them anywhere near a microwave.

Short of a trip to the good old US of A, his output can be found for sale on E-Bay and Etsy.