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Examples Of Custom Marker's Marks

A. This mark is made for a series of commissioned pottery, the mark is the logo of the customer's restaurant.

B. A classic signature stamp with year.   A signature stamp allows you to create that perfect signature every time for your work.

C. This is a typical pottery stamp for general use on wide variety of pieces. There is no date, so this stamp could be used for many years.

If you would like to create your own custom stamp, simply print out the order form and draw your design in the circle on the form.

D. and E. These two custom stamps show the dog symbol which will be used to identify a line of functional pottery over several years.   The dates are changed on each stamp, so that collectors can date the pieces using the maker's mark.   In this case each stamp would be used for one year only.

F. A custom maker's mark using a stylized letter S (the first letter in the artist's last name) to be used as a general identification mark for the ceramic artist on all thier work.

If you would like to create your own custom stamp, simply print out the order form and draw your design in the circle on the form.

Example of a good bold design with lines that perfect thickness for maximum detail.

Above is a good level of detail for a design.   Note the thickness of the black areas in the drawing.
Above is the resulting stamp tool, the black areas in the drawing are bold enough to make a strong image in the clay.

Example of design with lines that are too thin.

Above is too much detail, notice how small and thin the black areas are in the drawing.
Above is the result with too much detail.   The image is there, but the tool will only make faint impressions in the clay.   The text is not readable becuase the lines are too thin.   This tool will be weak and will not last as long as a tool with a bolder image.

We hope these ideas help you design a maker's mark or design tool you will be happy with for years to come. Please use our order forms to create your design.


Historical Examples Of Stamps & Maker's Marks

While the process of using a laser to transfer your design from paper to wood tool is new technology, the method of using stamp tools is very old.   On a recent research trip, I found examples of clay stamp tools in a small village museum of Anghiari, Italy which date from several hundred years ago.   The desired result was the same, to create a repeatable texture or image that can be used on several matching ceramic pieces or in several locations on one piece.

Historic Marker's Marks

Information from the English Pottery website about some famous historic pottery marker's marks.
Derby Porcelain Works makers marks used from 1759 to present day

Chelsea Porcelain Works makers marks used from 1745 to present day

Minton Pottery in Stokes on Trent. Makers marks used from 1793 to present day

Chelsea-Derby Pottery makers marks used 1769-1784

Bow China Works, London - makers marks used 1747-1776

Numbers like these were used on Plymouth Pottery as symbols for what kind of underglaze was used.