Martin Boyd / Tom Sanders

Designer	Tom Sanders
Maker	Martin Boyd Pottery
Marks	Incised “TS” “Martin Boyd Australia” under glaze to base
Description	Slipware bowl with balloon sides and circular base and stem handle.  Brown glaze to interior of bowl with brown banding to exterior, excised with a zig zag pattern.
Number
Production Date	1948/49
Width	127mm
Depth	45mm
Length (with handle)	157mm
Weight	230gm
Volume	375ml
Acquisition	Camberwell Sunday Market 28 Aug 2011
Rameking Reference Number	MBS 001

In 1946, while Guy Boyd was studying at the East Sydney Technical College, he worked at night with Norma Flegg in her basement pottery in Cremorne. They originally used the name “Guy Boyd” incised on the base of their ramekins, but in 1948, they began using the name “Martin Boyd” when Norma’s husband Leonard joined the company.  Guy returned to Victoria in 1950 and the company in Sydney continued to use the name until it ceased production in 1964.  They also used a variety of other names as they produced pottery for department stores and commemorative wares.

 This ramekin is incised "Martin Boyd" to the base. Many people can be confused by this and think that Martin was another of the Boyds’, yes he was, a writer, not a potter.  But Guy used Martin as it is actually one his middle names. Why did he choose to use his middle name on these items?  Who knows. 

The initials “TS” refer to Thomas Percy Sanders who was born on the 16^th of February 1924.  Others record his birth in 1921 or 1925, but it was actually 1924.  After serving in the Royal Australian Air Force as an Aircraftsman in WW2, Tom moved north from Melbourne and started working in Guy Boyd's Sydney pottery as a potter and ceramic decorator. He moved back to Melbourne in 1949 and worked at the Hoffmann pottery in East Brunswick. He then spent a year with Arthur Boyd at Murrumbeena in suburban Melbourne before setting up his own pottery "T & E Sanders" at Eltham in 1950 and later “Dorian Sands”.

The Martin Boyd Pottery developed their own high quality glazes and at its height, employed up to eighty people. They also used a variety of other names as they produced pottery for department stores and commemorative wares. Many of the ramekins I have that are signed as Martin Boyd are smaller than his "Guy Boyd" ones. There are larger ones with the same signature most with reverse matching colours. So there it is folks. Just because it says Boyd on the bottom, it ain’t necessarily so. Collect them just the same.  If you are lucky enough to find some that have “TS” on them, buy them.