Figgjo

Designer	Turi Gramstad-Oliver
Maker	Figgjo AS
Marks	Underglaze backstamed “Figgjo Flameware Décor: Tor Viking in Vulcanus quality Made in Norway on base
Material	Stoneware
Description	Small mould formed sauce pan with one piece handle to rim.  Blue matte glaze to exterior with grey matte glaze to interior with transfer print floral pattern to interior rim.  Unglazed flat circular base.  Small hole at end of hollowed handle and pouring spout moulded into top of rim.
Condition	Good, small, unglazed flea bite section to exterior.
Number	12217 impressed to base.
Production Date	Early 1970s
Width at rim	115mm
Width at Base	70mm
Depth	50mm
Length (with handle)	170mm
Weight	275gm
Volume	250ml
Acquisition	Purchase Salvo Stores, Ferntree Gully 22 January 2015.
Rameking Reference Number

This ramekin / sauce-pan was made by Figgjo in Norway around the early 1970s.  Designed by Turi Gramstadt-Oliver, it is part of their Saupo range, known by the pattern name of Fitugo.  They regard it as an open saucepan.

Figgjo AS is a Norwegian porcelain manufacturing company founded in 1941 by Harald Lima and Sigurd Figved.  It is located in Figgjo near Stavanger in the municipality of Sandnes on the west coast of Norway near to a clay source.  An electricity plant set up in 1918 by the locals was also used to supply power.  It was set up near the Figgjo river, and was called Figgjo Kraftselskap AS, (Figgjo power company). Their first tunnel oven was set up in 1946, and is still in use. The company started producing faience in 1947 and changed name to Figgjo Fajanse in 1949.

 In 1946, after the Second World War, they employed Ragnar Grinsrud to head up the designers, including some from Finland for their products.  They began faience production in 1947.  The company took its current form in 1968 following the merger of Figgjo Fajanse AS.1941 with Stavangerflint AS (another popular maker of tablewares).  It was called Figgjo Flint until the production line in Stavanger closed in 1979. 

The company has a factory, museum and factory outlet at Figgjo. It specializes in vitrified china for the domestic and professional catering markets.  The underglaze backstamps FF, Figgjo Fajanse and Figgjo Flint are found on the company's products.  Today Figgjo AS has 180 employees and exports around the world.  Next time you have a chip butty at Wembley stadium, it may be served on Figgjo tableware.

Mystery Maker Marked CW

Designer	Not known
Maker	Not Known
Marks	Stamped “CW” inside small oval to outside of base
Material	Glazed earthenware
Description	Large hand thrown high waisted bowl with flat unglazed base.  Light grey speckled matte glaze to interior and exterior.  Light brown band to top 1.5 cm of outside of bowl.  Hollow short knob handle with open end curled inwards.
Condition	Very good
Number	No number
Production Date	Approx late 1980s
Width at rim	120mm
Width at Base	110mm
Depth	73mm
Length (with handle)	175mm
Weight	450gm
Volume	750ml
Acquisition	Purchase Vision Australia Op shop Sommerville, Vic 15 January 2015.
Rameking Reference Number	MMM CW 001 - 002

Any information would be appreciated.

Denby Studio

Designer	Kenneth Clark / Glyn Colledge
Maker	Denby - Langley
Marks	Stamped in black ink to base, “Denby Stoneware” in cartouche, 1 2 Made in England ½ Pint.
Material	Glazed Stoneware
Description	Gloss grey glaze mould formed bowl with dark brown vertical lines spaced at 15mm around top half of bowl exterior.  Extended trumpet handle with air hole to underside with eyebrow handle on opposite side.  Brown colour to exterior of rim and burnt-orange highlights on the end of knob and handles.  Unglazed foot ring, interior of bowl top and exterior rim of lid.  Steam hole in lid.
Condition	Very  good
Number	Numbers 1 and 2 as part of back stamp
Production Date	1960s
Width at rim	114mm
Width at Base	73mm
Depth	53mm
Length (with handle)	192mm
Weight	Bowl 390gm, bowl 145gm
Volume	485ml
Acquisition	Purchase Red Cross, Hampstead Gardens S.A. 18th December 2014/
Rameking Reference Number	DEN 004

This pattern was called “Studio” made between 1963 and 1974, although some patterns were discontinued in 1970.  There were several different pieces made with this pattern.  This one is a grey casserole dish and lid.  It is decorated with dark brown vertical lines and orange highlights on the knobs and handles. Made in the same shape as Ode and Echo.  the shape was designed by Kenneth Clark (Kenneth Inman Carr Clark, ceramicist, born 31 July 1922; died 10 June 2012 aged 89) who also designed their “Gourmet” range introduced in 1957, a shape that was later used for “Studio”, as well as “Ode “(supposedly designed by Glyn Colledge) and “Echo” (which was a blue version of Ode).  For very good stories for more on Ken, see the obituaries in both the Telegraph and Guardian newspapers on line.

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.