Bernard Charles

Hello, I would love some help identifying a bowl I have. I've been trying to identify this for years, and keep giving up and putting it away! It's made from a very fine material, is a beautiful curved shape with a narrow base, and is unglazed with a sgraffito style decoration inside and out. There is a monogram on the base that for the life of me I cannot intepret. It's scratched into the pottery and looks like a circle with an elongated C in the centre with possibly letters or numbers inside that. There are two dashes on the outer circle.

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the Forum.

When I saw these images last night they did ring a bell but not that loudly. The decoration looked familiar but sleeping on it seems to have done the trick.

By rotating the image of the base 90 degrees anticlockwise the mark made sense. Your bowl was made by Bernard Charles and from the decoration was likely to have been made in the early 1980s.

Charles spent most of his life lecturing in ceramics at such places as Reading University and Poole School of Art and was even a consultant for a time for Poole Pottery. After retiring he began potting seriously in 1982 until 1996 when he turned to watercolour painting.

He was born in 1930 and, as far as I am aware, is still living in West Sussex.

Well I never! That's brilliant, thanks ever so much. I've just looked him up in the British Studio potters marks book, and there it is. I must have scoured that book 3 times looking for that mark and missed it every time!

Not a problem but we can't promise to do this every time.

Two vases by Bernard -

Quite amazing that a Bernard Charles vase, not attributed, but described as

" Vintage Moderist (sic) studio art pottery vase Very Hans Coper style marked c1970s"

sold on a well known internet auction site for £280 + postage tonight.

It was attractive but ................

.....not so amazing, it's possible some onlookers knew what they were looking at & even if they didn't it was a fine piece of work - quite welcomed in many a collection.

I admit that it was a fine looking vase and compared to what some lesser pots by better known makers fetch it might seem reasonable.

However, it is more that twice the price that I have known a vase by him sell for.

what's in a name, quality always shines through eventually & one mans price is another's bla bla...it could be said someone who purchased your previous BC did OK or perhaps they just liked them for what they are and enjoys them.

It does depending who is watching at any given time on the internet, as I did buy one, also unattributed, on there a couple of years ago. It was the same style and slightly smaller but with postage cost me £29.50.

...all said and done from what I have seen of his work it appeared to have been of an exceptional standard, like you mentioned better than many a better known maker out there - when you consider the kind of prices he charged back in the day for this kind of work. It's a wonder more collectors aren't aware of his work.

Yet another bit of studio from the pile. You will be please to here 90% of it I am tracing through reference books and not about to post it all here. But some are sticking so am appealing for help from you lot.

So here we have a nice distinctive vase with an unclear mark. I think it is a B surrounded by a C? But could be miles off.

Thanks in advance for any help.

by Bernard Charles

Agreed. BC mark

Thanks guys. It's a great little vase very tempted to keep for a while (along with the other 20 new ones in my flat )

A group of Bernard Charles pots from the early to mid 1980s that I sold earlier this year.

The personal mark found on the base of the vase on the right. Similar marks were to be found within the foot of all of the vases above.