Bob Kinzie--Affilliated Craftsmen and beyond

Let me say at the outset, Bob Kinzie is one of the most amazing throwers I have ever seen. At one point he could throw twenty 25 pound pots in 4 hours. This is a remarkable feat, and at that rate he could make huge lamp bases and pots faster than a commercial ceramic company could cast them.
In the early 1960's, he and two friends established a pottery manufacturing business called Affiliated Craftsmen, California. It was first located in Los Angeles, but shortly thereafter relocated to Costa Mesa, California. They produced primarily large textured lamp bases and garden pots. The trio decided to follow the Japanese Mengei tradition of "the unknown craftsman" and therefore did not mark or sign their names to the work (this later changed after Kinzie left the company in the early 70's--pieces were then sometimes marked with paper labels and a stamp mark).
During the Affiliated Craftsmen period in the 1960's Bob also produced large lamp bases for Raul Coronel's company Stoneware Designs, Inc.; some of these were apparently sold by Coronel to the Architectural Pottery Company which has caused some confusion among both collectors and dealers of Mid Century Modern pottery:
The Affiliated Craftsmen/Stoneware Designs output is often mistaken for or misrepresented as the work of another artist: David Cressey, best known for his work with Architectural Pottery Company, and later with Earthgender, a partnership with his friend Robert Maxwell.

The following photo shows Bob in his Aptos, California studio with an enormous textured bowl he had just thrown as a private demonstration for my wife and I. It took him less than 10 minutes to throw the piece and apply the texture using a bag of slip and two butane torches. Notice the bowl has no bottom--it will be sliced down the side, removed from the wheel and laid flat on a work table resulting in a long flat arc of textured clay which will be cut into sections and assembled into slab built items:

The following photo is a huge Affiliated Craftsmen bowl by Kinzie which I got from a friend (the friend thought it was made by David Cressey); it is 18 inches across. The second photo is one of the large lamp bases produced by Bob for Raul Coronel's Stoneware Designs, Inc.

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Bob Kenzie and his wife are currently producing pottery and sculptures at their Aptos, California (near Santa Cruz) studio. My wife and I recently took a trip up there to meet and visit them. The Kinzies are wonderful people who graciously welcomed us into their home and studio where we were overwhelmed by all their beautiful work. We came away with four large pieces:

The first is a fabulous slab built textured vase (shown in "action).



The next photo shows two large hanging planters that now hang in our garden:



The next piece is my favorite, It is a sculptural "pond". It is 18 inches across and sits on 3 short legs. The center may be filled with pebbles or water with a flower floated (or not).

I should have mentioned that the new designation for Bob and Sandy Kenzie is Kinzie Stoneware, You can see much more of their work or contact them at kinziestoneware.com. There is also a short video showing Bob throwing and texturing one of his large pieces, then slicing it off the wheel and removing the slab.

Phil Barkdall was Bob's partner at Affiliated Craftsmen. After Bob left the company (around the early 70's), Phil started using paper labels with the AC logo on pieces (these were round with a picture of a stylized hand and the words Affiliated Craftsmen California around the perimeter). He also began using an impressed stamp; it was a circle with three smaller circles inside (one indented, two protruding). The following photos are of a pair of later stoneware lamps and the stamp on them:

Just a note for anyone who might be in the area in early October:

Hi Calusa, This is my first post, so hopefully the picture shows?
I really enjoyed this post and have a lamp by AC, see picture, do you think Bod or Phil created this large lamp?[url=][/url]

Yes, absolutely! I think this lamp was made by Phil Barkdall. The shape (with several texture options) is shown in an old ACS catalog that Sandy Kinzie emailed to me; it is listed as "K Series". I will ask the Kinzies for permission to include the catalog pages in this post.
I believe I can see the stamp mark used by Barkdall next to the hole for the cord. I've also seen the glaze before on a pair of lamps on ebay that were attributed to David Cressey even though they were a classic Affiliated Craftsmen shape and had the same mark on them which was obviously not used by Cressey.
Great find valiantvintage! I think now that we are getting some information out on the web via this forum, Bob Kinzie and Affiliated Craftsmen Studio will be getting some long overdue recognition for their contributions to mid-century California studio pottery. Thanks for posting!

I'm afraid I made a mistake earlier in this post (maybe more than one, but I will correct this one now); Kinzie's partner at ACS was Phil BARTOK, not Phil Barkdall as I erroneously reported.
Also, the business was "Affiliated Craftsmen Studios" (not just "Affiliated Craftsmen").
So much for relying on my aging memory rather than my notes. Sorry for any mix up. Calusa

Wow, thanks for all the info and fast! I have seen a few of these (stamp marked) lamps in my thrift journeys, but unfortunately, not knowingthe artist I past on all except this one because I like the (large) size of it. Thanks so much for confirming the potter...now to post some more studio pieces I have yet to identify.
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Nice grouping. I'd say start taking pics of the marked pieces and post them in the "ID my pottery section" (it's not all Brits here y'know--just mostly ).

Thanks again! I just added a few pieces to the "ID my pottery section", Take a look if you get a chance!

The following images are from the ACS catalog; two pages of lamp styles and one pic of Bob throwing, in which you can see some of the other types of ware that was available.

All fabulous!

I have two of what I think are the N series, in beautiful condition...my house isn't of the scale to really fit them, though, since I have other lighting already...

and I just have to say: WOW about your pottery collection, valiantvintage -- I have some guesses on some of those pieces already, just from far away, but I'll go to the "ID" page to see what you've posted.

My friend Bruce sent me this photo of a huge Kinzie pot he turned up this past weekend. It is 17 inches tall. Note the glaze is identical to the lamp base I posted earlier. The form is similar to the piece Bob is throwing in the B/W photo from the Affiliated Craftsmen catalog (also shown above).

Great to see this post about Bob Kinzie.  I worked for Bob and Phil at Affiliated Craftsmen. I believe your dates are a little off. I was there in the late 70s before Bob left for up north, maybe 78 or even 79. I did various jobs at the Costa Mesa plant. including throwing lids for the lamps that used them, inserts for the large ash cans, staining the bisque ware unglazed pottery before final firing, mixed all the glazes and was the shipping clerk. I also assembled the lamps etc. the support work. I was a pottery student when I started and Bob and Phil were the most skilled potters I've ever met. Bob would throw 25 lb clay pots with a collar pull and two regular pulls, like clock work. Very very few mistakes, really only rarely and that applies to both Bob and Phil. Bob was a more dynamic potter than Phil, but Phil was also amazing and made all the same pots as Bob. In fact you really had to closely know the look of Bob's throw rings as compared to Phil's to tell who made what and when the slip decoration was applied and textured, you couldn't really tell them apart. Bob also was a major positive and inspirational influence in my life at that time. And Phil was an incredibly good guy as well if not as philosophical about his pottery as Bob.

I'm so glad to come across this as I was just thinking of him tonight.  Affiliated Craftsmen worked out of a catalogue that Bob and Phil had professionally prepared and we used to ship product to banks, restaurants and designers to order. It was fun working there and Phil and Bob were great to work for. I use to beat Bob at chess on a regular basis:) So glad I got to work there.

do you have any photo's from that time at the pottery Barry?

So sorry, I don't. But the picture of Bob at the wheel 2nd from the bottom in B/W is how he looked when I worked for him. Let me just add, that the most incredible thing about his throwing technique is the energy that went into the pot. Its hard to describe, but watching him throw, and to see how these huge pots literally sprang from the wheel, it was so powerful of a throwing style. Was amazing. Sorry to carry on. But it was an important job in my life because of Bob and Phil.

And one last. . . I think back in those days Bob was filmed throwing pots. Don't know who, I just sort of remembered it.

Thanks for the info Barry. I appreciate the clarification on dates--I was working on very limited information; just a few conversations with Bob and I never met Phil. Did you know John Scott? He was a third partner. It is interesting that you note the similarity between the work of Bob and Phil; usually when I see examples of their work it is usually attributed to Kinzie because most people don't seem to know all of the players. It should be noted again that the Affiliated pieces with a stamped mark are Phil's
I have a few pieces shown on my Instagram feed @hickmanarts

Did not know John Scott. When I was there it was difficult to tell the difference between them after glazed and fired. The worked to the specs in their catalogue so the models were all the same size and shape despite who threw them.

I did all the glazing for ACS from 1968 to '74.  The catalog you have excerpted is the third, and I believe final, edition c.1974. Bob Kinsey's partner was not P. Bartok nor P. Barkdall, but Phil Barkdull.  Scott was already gone and a third thrower named Donald Sutherland (1936 - 2011) had been hired. Sutherland left around '72 to found 'Earth Forms' in Newport Beach, CA (later, Eastport, ME).  I recall Bob making several videos for a junior college w/ a Spanish name;  I believe it was Rio Hondo.  He and Phil considered ten 25lb pots to be a day's work as it takes at least 10 strenuous minutes to wedge and center 25lbs of fairly stiff clay.  Twenty 25lb pots in 4 hours would have been a stunt, and not serious production.  Gee,  where does the time go?

Some of that footaqe shows Bob creating the one long spiral constituting the rings alteration on those massive vases and lamps he threw.
Just stands there holding his one digit at a steady pressure from throat to base, so what looks like 2-3 dozen concentric rings is actually one long line. If you've ever tried to trace one-- I have one and have succeeded twice in the decades I have owned it-- you would be gobsmacked at the patience and control it takes to deliver that alteration.