Having made pottery for about 20 years, I have gone through several different pottery marks. My first exposure to pottery marks was from years of studying and collecting Japanese pottery. Working with Bill Klock exposed me to his use of a personal stamp based on the Leach tradition. I made my first stamp while my first pots were still wet.
The mark I have used the longest is the small seal mark of a small sickle moon that represents the Albedo concept. I started using that mark back in the mid-90’s long before there was an Albedo Studio. Along the way, I have used various incarnations of the CB mark and the current mark is based on my life prior to making pots. Back when I was in college, I ran a coin store, as I have always been interested in US type coins and ancient coins. The coin shop gave me a great opportunity to handle and examine all kinds of coins as well as buying/selling gold and silver scrap.
My current mark, used since about 2002, is meant to look like a hard-stuck ancient coin with the letter type based on ancient Greek coinage. It seemed a fitting way to consolidate my life pre-pottery and post pottery. There are still several variations of the pottery stamp, but it is the stamp I use on most pieces of enough size to stamp with a coin size stamp. I used the smaller Albedo stamp on smaller pieces including some teabowls, teacups, sake bottles and the like.
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