Svend Bayer

Mug from the Kigbeare Kiln 2018

As far as unmarked pieces go they can be a challenge! I prefer to buy such pieces direct from potter and then take a photo of it in situ in order to build the provenance. My last unsigned purchase was a couple years ago which I bought from Chuck Schawrtz at the Gnarly Dudes Exhibition in Devon with Svend Bayer, Nic Coliins etc

That’s a very good idea; I must remember that, especially with Svend’s pots.
I bought a collection of unmarked pots from a dealer who’d got them as a job lot at auction and had no idea what they were. Turns out they were by Chuck Schwartz. I was very lucky that his wife Sue recognized them and identified them for me.

Lovely hare’s fur glazed bowl by Svend Bayer from his Kigbeare kiln via Hatfield Art In Clay

Love that,,,, especially the contrast near your thumb of the rough groggy clay and the greenbalck gloopy edge...

We should have a separate thread on the Kigbeare Kiln. Lisa Hammond, Svend Bayer. Who else does one associate with using it. Are there any particular style elements to this kiln?

anyone can start a new thread Phil, I have started threads that have thousands of hits even though 99% of the content was posted by me

I think potters using the kigbeare kiln are adding their personal marks to the kiln mark so it doesn’t need its own thread; pots from it would be under each potters personal threads. Svend added his mark to the bottles because they were part of a Crowdfunding campaign to get the kiln built in the first place. I assume the mug doesn’t have his mark simply because he doesn’t usually mark his pieces. It was off his stand in Oxford and sold as his work. Just checked the Kigbeare Kiln website and potters are firing their own styles of pottery at the kiln. Lisa Hammond is at the Clay College in Stoke; the apprentices there have their own stamps.

I have a bowl that Svend fired in a kiln while he was in Australia and it has a stamp because...……….. as he stated, it was so that everyone knew which pots were theirs. In essence, I agree with Naomi.

Svend Bayer bowls fired at the Kigbeare kiln and sold via the Kigbeare Kiln website. Unmarked

Hi all, just wanted to share my romance story of studio pottery and all things hand thrown. I’m still learning and searching, I think I always will be, but it started this summer.

My wife and I were on holiday in North Wales in July 2021. We spent a day fishing out broken pieces of pottery from a river that had collected in the shallows of a bend, lots of treasure to be found! I had an overwhelming feeling that I would find treasure, something special! I didn’t that day but the following day I found a bowl in an antiques emporium, the green bowl had a river depicted in the base. I didn’t buy it and regretted that decision all night!

Whilst passing the same place the following day I popped back in, bought the bowl and spent hours just holding it and running my fingers across the contours and following the ‘river’ marks! I had no idea or experience of pottery marks or makers marks but loved spending hours scrolling through google images. Suddenly a picture matched the makers mark! More research and verification, a dude called Svend Bayer and some place called ‘Wendford Bridge’?! It was exhilarating reading through pages of praise for his work and his life! I felt so blessed to be a part of the bowls life and to be able to hold it!

From them on I was hooked on searching eBay, charity shops and emporiums for studio pottery! Reflecting back, I did find treasure that holiday, it wasn’t the bowl itself, it was a new hobby! That’s what lead me here, all the feeds and conversations, it’s been a great way to switch off from working in healthcare!

Thanks to everyone for sharing your pictures, stories, knowledge and passion!

I hope you enjoyed my story and the pictures attached! Happy Sunday night and keep on spinning that wheel!

Hans x

Very nice

NaomiM wrote:Very nice

Gorgeous isn’t it! Just been scrolling through the art and prints section on here too, it’s like going to library but not leaving the leaving house!

Can be a strain on the bank balance when there are so many potters on the Wish List

Agreed! I’m thinking of trying to sell it so someone else can enjoy it then use the proceeds to buy other pieces of less value?! It’s a perpetual cycle

That is an interesting piece, and a nice one. Svend Bayer as a pupil/apprentice at Wenford Bridge of course. The decoration is Very unusual. I cannot think of a piece of his I have seen with that finger wipe slip decoration. Equally the outer decoration is an unusual for him.

HansS wrote:Agreed! I’m thinking of trying to sell it so someone else can enjoy it then use the proceeds to buy other pieces of less value?! It’s a perpetual cycle

I sell on ebay to fund my obsession

Stoneware casserole ash glaze on lid and inside.
Vey well made
CT or crescent T mark
Couldn’t see it in book

SB mark for Svend Bayer

That’s funny as that was what it reminded me of. Mum had one like this with the greenish lid. I just coudnt see it as an SB mark. Thank you!