Mystery Maker Marked "CS"

Designer	Not known
Maker	Not known
Marks	Incised ”CS” to base
Material	Clay
Description	Hand-made coiled clay
Condition	Good
Number	No number, “V.I” incised to base of one ramekin
Production Date	Not known
Width at rim	108mm
Width at Base	73mm
Depth	40mm
Length (with handle)	143mm
Weight	R1, 227 Gm;  R2,  277 Gm
Volume	237ml
Acquisition	Mill antiques Ballarat, 2 April 2019
Rameking Reference Number	MMM 006, MMM007

Sometimes, the big fella upstairs throws you a curved one.  I have been looking at these ramekins for years at the Mill Antiques just outside Ballarat in Victoria, seeing them go from stall to stall.  They are crudely made and were vastly overpriced.  They look like student pieces.  Anyway, recently I was browsing and came across them again.  This time, the stall was closing down and everything was very heavily discounted, particularly these ramekins.  It appears that the stallholder had moved locations in the complex over the years and was now closing down.  So, thanks big guy.

It appears that they are hand made from strings of clay coiled up to make the shape, an ancient technique for making pottery.  I have no idea of who made them, when or where.  They appear to be made in the 1930s or 1940s.  The clay looks similar to that around Preston, a suburb just north of Melbourne.