Celtic pottery (Newlyn & Mousehole)

interesting...I haven't heard about solid waxing before?

I may get out the turtle wax and buff up me biscuit

     



I have never really liked the Celtic cats but today that all changed when I saw an early piece made by Bill Fisher.
Although it's still quite a basic moulded shape it has more definition than the later models and being quite a bit smaller (2cm shorter) the greater definition is very noticeable.
A much slimmer neck makes this cat far more pleasing to the eye and the concave eye sockets help to make the nose more pronounced  as does Bill's more detailed brushwork over an unglazed body.
Finally the tail is far superior to those of later pieces having been hand made separately to the moulded body it is far more rounded and tail like!

Celtic Fan - my Celtic platter has a brown and sticky bottom!

It's  has puzzled me since I got it. Is this the 'wax' mentioned???. Did they seal the porous bottom? or is this just glue from something stuck on the back. Can't see any remnants of green felt or any fabric. On the platter it's hardened but it could be scraped and you can see scratches on it. It's sticky, or tacky to the touch and looks like it's discoloured. It's definitely deliberate and you can see the extent of it from the detailed photo.








BR  Alex

22 Crawford St. wrote:.... has a brown and sticky bottom!

On second thought - best we don't go there  

No your sticky bottom has nothing to do with any original waxing. This was applied to items which never had the shiny glaze applied, which yours clearly did.
I'd say it is glue remnants from something stuck on the bottom at a later stage. Possibly removed to find a makers label prior to selling (probably quite recently as it is still sticky. The brown colour is however original.

What does the front look like? That is an early Newlyn piece, some of which more resemble the Mousehole ones in style.

Ahhhh I seee. Yes, if you look closely the brown extends further than the stickeyness. They are discreet - one did not cause other. So it was ragged brown, then something was stuck to the bottom, now removed. Did not leave anything except the glue - you would assume it was green felt (with copydex?). Platter in on the website 15 rows up from bottom (see profile for link). It came from Ebay so you've probably seen it before. It was not cheap!

BR Alex

Ah, that's your website - Very nice.

Yep, I have seen that dish (probably on your site) and not surprised it was expensive. As I suspected, it's one that looks more like a Mousehole one - without the label I'd have thought it was.

did you try turtle wax yet Celtic Fan?

No, not yet Dan - You?

I'm currently building (adapting) some new display cases, so hopefully when that's done I can do one and see.

I'm also waiting on a nice large Bull dish by Maggi, which I found for sale in New Zealand (the internet is wonderful at times).

not yet, I'll find some unwanted car wax one of these days

I've not seen any other examples of this this style of mug or design.



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Very nice.
I have seen them - about 4 others, same design (and have one), but they are not common. Mousehole production.
Although mine has a flat base, whereas yours looks to have a foot ring?

Is yours a small mug just under 9cm tall?

Mine does have a foot ring, but it is taller at 13cm.

I especially like the handle

I now have my 'International Rescue' dish.
I found this for sale in New Zealand and it was purchased and brought over for me by the step-mum of a friend of a friend.

A lovely Mousehole bull dish by Maggi.
15 inches long by 6 inches wide.

Recent purchase with a blue back, the black seems quite matt and slightly metallic so possibly an earlier one   

I have seen a few with that blue base,they were all made at 'The studio Mousehole' and were the work of Maggie Fisher so I'm guessing they were post Bill Fisher and pre Celtic Pottery

thanks Dan, what sort of date would that be?

I'm still trying to work out the time frame but late 60's would be my guess

Yep, a nice dish.
Like Dan, most of these coloured bases I've seen were Mousehole, but I have now seen at least one with a Newlyn label. Although they do carry both Bill, as well as Maggi's label. But in this case I do suspect this is one of Maggi's.
However, the glaze does (from what I can see) look to be more like a later glaze than the early one (although I may not think so on handling?).
So I suspect this is either late Mousehole or very early Newlyn - which yeh, would put it as late 60's.

It would be interesting to know the significance of the separate labels (Bill / Maggi) rather than what is assumed to be the earlier Fishers label. Hopeful something Maggi is working on now might shed some light on this matter.

We now know they were potting and painting in Mousehole in the late 50's (although Celtic does seem to have appeared around mid - late 60's?). But they were also potting and painting even earlier whilst still in London, before they moved to Mousehole. Sorry I have no other info on this.

Just picked up this interesting vase.
I'm not buying many vases these days, but this had a 'look' about it, which made me think it could be early and interesting. I had no idea what size it was.
I was very happy when it arrived. I'm fairly sure it is Mousehole production, but what I couldn't see before it arrived, is that it is hand thrown    which is very noticeable on the outside as well as the inside.
Size is 7.5 inches tall x 4.5 inches at the widest mid point, so larger than I had expected.

A great addition to my collection.

I don't usually collect Celtic but this was cheap and available (like some of my old girlfriends!) so I bought it. What do the serious Celtic collectors think?

an unusual dragon LION design, made at Mousehole after Bill moved on

Looks like a Lion to me   

yes I did wonder if it might be a lion but to be honest it doesn't look like any lion I have seen and I'm yet to come across a dragon.
I have compared the actual pot with several others in my collection and I'm confident that it was made by Margaret Fisher