Celtic pottery (Newlyn & Mousehole)

I quite like the simple monochrome colourway of this lamp

this mug was designed and made by Bill Fisher in Mousehole , this example has a crudely turned foot which is quite unusual for Fisher vessels

Newlyn bowl

Celtic Cornwall used that glaze, but can't say I've seen that shape before.

I passed by Wharf Cottage last week and was saddened by it's near derelict state with no sign that it was ever used to produce works of art



I asked lots of the villagers about the pottery produced in Mousehole during the 1960's and 70's, sadly all but one seemed disinterested and ignorant of their local heritage,

You could start a facebook page to get a brown plaque made (ceramic of course) - Wouldn't cost much, it could be in the style of mousehole.  I bashed up this image. Not good of course if they are going to demolish it.

Hi, Am I correct in assuming that this a Bill Fisher terracotta Lion .....

Nice. Any base marks?

Unfortunately No marks whatsoever ...

none of mine are marked

he is superb!

Is it not quite brave to leave pieces in the raw? Surely they would have sold better with a dab or two of glaze?

Why did he do this ?

he left some of his bowls unglazed too but he coated them with wax

the unglazed animals get quite a patina when handled for decades,the lion has obviously been kept in a cabinet all of his life

all Bill's creations are unique as this image shows

He did paint some of his terracotta creations, particularly the people. Sometimes in some quite strong colours.
Personally I do prefer those that were left plain, which seems to be the case with his animals.
Dan, I'm not sure that that darker glossy colour is patina, as they also seem rather uniform all over - either dark 'glossy' or light and matt. I think it's either a difference in the clay used, or something else Bill did to them. You couldn't really handle them inside that tail loop, or right inside the nostrils or that head hair.

And for anyone who doesn't know, these were sold in Liberty's for a while.

we now have quite a collection of labels on this thread so the logical next step is to work out the date line and then pieces with labels can be roughly dated.
So which label is the earliest?

Well list out all the different marks first in text...

- CELTIC POTTERY Mousehole, Cornwall. (YELLOW LABEL)
- Designed and made by William Fisher, Mousehole, Cornwall (GREEN LABEL)
- The Studio at Wharf Cottage Mousehole, Cornwall (Boxed on YELLOW LABEL)
- Designed and made by William Fisher, Mousehole, Cornwall (RED LABEL)
- FISHER inscribed by hand

etc

Then best guess for date?

also

designed and made by Margaret Fisher. Mousehole,Cornwall Yellow label
designed and made by the Fishers, Mousehole, Cornwall (yellow label)

I have an

CELTIC POTTERY Maggi Fisher Newlyn, Cornwall (YELLOW OR WHITE STAINED LABEL)

Here are some very early Mousehole singers designed and made by Bill.
the bases are wider than others in my collection, the larger of the two measuring 8cm diameter at the base and the height is 14 cm

- Designed and made by William Fisher, Mousehole, Cornwall (RED LABEL) also YELLOW

Other labels include -
- Designed and Made by The Fishers Mousehole Cornwall. (Green Label)
- CELTIC POTTERY Newlyn, Cornwall. (YELLOW LABEL) (same type as yellow Mousehole label)
-CELTIC POTTERY Newlyn, Cornwall, with stick man (Gold sticker)
-CELTIC POTTERY Newlyn, Cornwall, different style stick/long man (Gold Sticker)
- there is also a Long Man impressed mark (probably Celtic Newlyn)
-I've also seen 1 example of the regular gold label in BLUE.

I'm not sure how much weight to put on the actual colour of the labels. As some wording appears on different coloured labels (Yellow, Red, Green), I wonder if it just depended what the printer had at the time?? Perhaps they switched back and forth?

I also wonder if the two labels saying either William or Margaret Fisher were used at the same time and reflect the break up in their relationship?

I'd say 'THE STUDIO' and 'THE FISHERS' labels are clearly the earliest ones.

We also need to better understand exactly what Bill continued to do after the split with Maggi and the formation of Celtic Pottery. Plus how (if at all) he marked his ware - Are some of the William Fisher labels, this later work? We do know he continued potting for many years, particularly his terracotta animals and figures - but what else??

Dates ?