pot signed Alfie - Mill Creek Pottery in Luray, Va, USA

Taking Dan up on his challenge :)  I have not a clue what this is made of so have described it as Grey Stoneware pot on my photos.  It's signed Alfie. 12cm high 13cm wide.
Any clue as to who by and also could someone please tell me what it might be made of and how the decoration/glaze would be described please?  I'm trying to learn as I go along

Many thanks
m

Glad to see you rise to the challange m

I think it's probably a home made pot or from an unknown potter.
Either way I doubt we will be able to id it but never say never

thanks again. It's a lovely pot, perfectly symmetrical and very peaceful somehow. I like it a lot.

m

Many thanks to the guest who sent this message by pm

'I think this is a potter in Luray VA. I met him last year and this looks like his. I am not a member of this forum so please pass the info to the person who asked the question (flying free). Alfie's shop is on 211 bypass just on the outside of Luray. Very nice chap. I believe he told me his items are for sale in a store in New York City.'

Dan
thanks for passing this on and many thanks also to the guest who posted this. It does tie in with what I was told by the person who sold it to me. She said the pieces were her uncles who travelled widely and who was now living in the States. Thanks again, I very much appreciate it.

m

just goes to show that even the most obscure pottery can be identified

The original post for this vase was 8 years ago, but I just saw it yesterday. It is from my studio, so whoever said it was from Mill Creek Pottery in Luray, Va. was correct.
I have no idea if the "current' owner of the piece will ever see this info, but I'm putting it out there anyway. This piece is wheel-thrown stoneware, fired at cone 10. Depending on how old it really is, Alfie probably threw the form, while I glazed and fired it. If it was made after the early 80's, I also applied his "signature". We would call this glaze blue & white sumi splash, because the blue design is flung onto the pot with a sumi brush.
If the piece was made before 1993 (when we moved to our current location), it MIGHT be gas fired, but I cannot tell without a better photo of the base. The image included in the original post doesn't show well on my computer, so I can't judge the color of the clay (to know if it was fired in reduction) or see his name clearly. Therefore, I can't tell what type of kiln it was fired in or if I "forged" his name!

Alfie died of lung disease in 2016.

Could this be crank clay? Or grogged clay? (Or are those different terms for the same material?) ... crank is a clay with coarse grit added to it - that's right isn't it?

I'm trying to respond to the question about crank clay, but am not sure I'm doing this correctly. I don't know this term. There is certainly grog in the clay, but it isn't a heavy type. Our clay is commercially mixed by Highwater, in Asheville, NC.

If you google the term you will eventually get a yahoo question ... with the answer being that crank clay is clay with lots of grog in it so it is a bit rough on the hands ... I believe Hans Coper uses it. I think it is also called T-material.