Alan Caiger-Smith and apprentices, Aldermaston Pottery

I hear he’s recently retired, or semi retired. I don’t know if potters ever fully retire if they can still throw a pot.

There is an huge long list of studio potter who never really 'retired'. They just did less. Which comes top of all the best advice for a long life. Keep yourself occupied, in an environment and atmosphere that you enjoy.

Just posting this here as an example of Nick Caiger-Smith’s N mark. He returned to potting in the late 90s and is still making Aldermaston style lustre ware at The Ridings, New Road Hill, Reading, Berks

A fairly plain Hazelden bowl, but never seen the gold sricker before.

Maybe because Alan Caiger Smith ceased taking on assistants in 1993, so it became a co-operative with the established potters still there?

I believe this is by David Tipler. The Pre-decimal price on the base would fit with his dates

Hello.

I have a bowl by the Studio Potter Alan Caiger-Smith.

His makers marks are slightly complicated on this bowl.
His signature is clear and I think the year mark is 1995.
Could anyone please help with the other marks?


I am not sure if you will be able to see the photo I have tried to attach.
If not this is a waisted post, sorry.

Thank you for reading this.

Penny

It could be 1974 or 1995, I think the earlier mark matches the circular Made in England stamp

https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t3346-aldermaston-pottery

The other marks apart- from the year marks, signature and pottery marks (which they tended to use on earlier pieces)- are glaze codes for lustre glazes used. They were virtually re-inventing a lot of the lustre glazes used, and were experimenting with many different lustre glazes which they needed a clear record for. Lustre glazing being a very haphazard and difficult process.
It would be nice to see if it is a lustre piece!

You might well find this book useful.
https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=&tn=alan+caiger+smith&kn=&isbn=

I think it’s David Tipler’s mark. He was apprenticed and then employed at Aldermaston from 1961-75

Agreed on David Tipler

Sadly Alan Caiger Smith died on February 21 2020. He was 90 years old. The owner and inspiration of Aldermaston Pottery. One of the truly Great Potters of the golden age of studio pottery.

His inspiration spread far and wide I love drinking from his beautiful goblets.

A fine obituary in the GUARDIAN. Informative as well.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/mar/18/alan-caiger-smith-obituary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I'll repost this painting of Alan that hangs in the permanent Aldermaston gallery in Reading Town Hall Museum (free).

I would love to see the Caiger Smith collection in Reading. Was not most of it based on the accumulation of one the major collectors of his work?

Yeah

Here is my old photo set

http://www.briglin.com/exhibition-reading-museum-aldermaston-pottery

“From the 1960s Reading Museum collected Aldermaston pottery, and in 1999 it was given an extraordinary lustreware collection by David Castillejo, a major patron of Caiger-Smith. The potter subsequently gave the Museum a range of non-lustre pots from his own collection and the Reading Foundation for Art and the Friends of Reading Museums acquired further complementary pieces. These contemporary pots complement the Museum’s other ceramic collections, such as the important early tin-glaze earthenware in the Blatch and Tufnell Collections which inspired Alan Caiger-Smith as a boy.”

That is terrific!
Thanks.
The best selection of Alan Caiger Smith pottery I think I have ever seen is his 'retirement' sale at Mallams Oxford in 2006. Some beautiful work, with prices to match!

by 22 Crawford St. Today at 4:52 pm

Yeah
Here is my old photo set
http://www.briglin.com/exhibition-reading-museum-aldermaston-pottery

There is some exquisite work there. The boar's head looks oddly out of place, though; it would be so much better hanging on my kitchen wall

Ahh the boars head is from the infamous pub of the same name in the centre of Reading town that was the sort you wiped your feet on the way out. I last saw that twenty years ago hanging over the entrance. it's made of concrete I think

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/berkshire/reading_boarshead.html

I think this bowl must be Aldermaston pottery and the mark looks very like Alan Caigar-Smith.  But I'm very puzzled by marks surrounding the central signature mark and would welcome any elucidation! The bowl is 17cm in diameter and 6cm in height. Thank you.

Yes it is ACS.
We have made in england in a circle.
WA I believe is a glaze code.
S ? other odd letters do occur.
The other mark looks like the date cypher, but I can't make it out
maybe a reflection, His pieces are usually dated.

Yes it is Alan Caiger Smith. The reason why it looks different from his normal work, is that is in lustre glazes. A much more complicated process than normal Aldermaston work, as it involved experimenting with endless different glazes and numerous firings. Hence the strange letters and numbers, which are mostly all glaze codes, so they could remember what they did! Nice piece and of some value.
Weirdly, all our information on Alan Caiger Smith is in the Aldermaston thread. It is worth scrolling through the whole thread - all 11 pages! - as there is a lot of information there. Halfway down page 1 is a near full list of Aldermaston signatures and date codes.
Follow this link.
https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t3346-aldermaston-pottery?highlight=aldermaston