Todays Pottery Vase Find - black/white Raku?

[mjm579]

Today's Pottery Vase Find - black/white Raku?

I plan to dig a little deeper later this evening, but this piece had too much character to pass up. The $5 price tag didn't hurt too much either.

I believe the signature says MA with an 8 and a 9 (1989?) on either side.

Any details you can offer regarding this signature and/or the artist would be greatly appreciated!

 

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[tamrock]

Pretty Cool!

 

[diggummup]

Nice piece. I don't know anything about the signature but I was reading another thread in here by Inspector gadget (I think) where he was trying to ID the signature on a piece of pottery. He emailed another potter of similar wares thinking it may have been his signature and although it wasn't the same guy, that guy knew that signature, so it was id'd via another potter. Maybe if you email this person who has similar wares he may recognize the signature- OPERARTENNISUSHI his email is at the bottom of the page. Let us know if you find out anything.

 

[mjm579]

Nice piece. I don't know anything about the signature but I was reading another thread in here by Inspector gadget (I think) where he was trying to ID the signature on a piece of pottery. He emailed another potter of similar wares thinking it may have been his signature and although it wasn't the same guy, that guy knew that signature, so it was id'd via another potter. Maybe if you email this person who has similar wares he may recognize the signature- OPERARTENNISUSHI his email is at the bottom of the page. Let us know if you find out anything.

Thanks. I'll def check it out.

 

[kali_is_my_copilot]

Absolutely, that's a great suggestion. My aunt is a potter and I grew up watching her fire pieces in a brick kiln she built, learned about the raku process similarly, and currently my "ebay office" shares space with her work area & electric kilns (and a kajillion works in progress). She's been an invaluable resource for helping to identify even somewhat obscure artists, not to mention styles/technique/era etc. I actually have plans with her tonight, I'll show her your post and see what she says. Your state/part of the country may help narrow it down if it's a local artist. Really gorgeous piece for $5 though, looks substantial.

Also, my house is full of her test pieces from over the years, and this piece reminds me of those; not aesthetically but how un-polished the sig is. That's a huge reason why it can be difficult to nail down earlier pieces by even well-known artists. If this person is still producing work their mark probably looks quite different after being tweaked to perfection and then made countless times over decades.