ID help please pottery dish marked JMA

I bought this for the design which looked,to me, vaguely similar to Celtic Newlyn patterns. I am not suggesting that this has come from there, I just thought it similar in style. Hoping someone may have better idea who JMA is and if this piece has any real merit. All thoughts welcome John

I actually looked at it 3-4 times over about eight weeks in a shop before taking the plunge ( a very shallow plunge!)today.

I'm a sucker for slipware, but I have to be honest and say this looks like a student piece.

i'm curious why you say that Naomi? i thought the slip decoration looked very competent. Sure, the mark on the back isn't an impressed potters seal or printed mark, but not all potters (professional) use them.

The initials look to be by an unpracticed hand. The brown slip trailing is muddled. The spikes off the trailing look like an after thought. The rim is too bare as though it's been wiped, whereas the foot doesn't look as though it's been wiped which would could result in it sticking in the kiln.... All hallmarks of a student piece.

...If you compared it to a practiced hand, like Len Stockley, Mary Wondrausch, Millstone Pottery, Coldstone Pottery, etc, you'd see the difference.

Plus it's one of the first decorating techniques they got us to do in pottery class.

professional or not, it's certainly better than i could do. I'm in awe of potters as it seems such a tricky thing to master.

I'd agree with bisto on this one, tho I'd not like to say either way if it's by a student or a less known potter.

I agree with Naomi. A talented and artistic student. The decoration is nice but too complicated. The throwing rings on the bottom suggests whoever made it spent a lot of time on the base which a practiced potter wouldn't have. Plus the afterthought mark.