Stamps and Stages
Each handcrafted piece has a unique “signature” of its own and no two pieces are identical; this is the beauty of our handcrafted ceramics and home furnishings. This evidence of the artisan’s hand, highly prized by collectors, defines every piece we create. An artisan’s stamp or mark also shows his or her contribution to each piece. In some cases, the contribution is a stage in the process, as in ceramics and in others, the application of decorative surface treatment may be the start-to-finish responsibility of one artisan.
It is important to note that although handcrafted and decorated, not all pieces that can have stamps are stamped. In addition, some products (furniture, for example) bear a colored dot to indicate the completion of a stage of the process by the artisan.
With or without a stamp, every piece produced at MacKenzie-Childs carries with it the signature individuality of the artisans who created it, as you will see in this description of our ceramics stamping process.
A Guide to Initial Stamping
Artisan stamps usually include two letters; the artisan's initials. It is important to note that we do not duplicate artisan stamps within each department. There are duplicate initials from department to department. As an example JB is a duplicate initial stamp in Clay forming and Decorating. It is easy to identify the artisan though, as a year will appear in front of the artisan initials for the Clay Forming Departments. Decorator initials are never ‘retired’ completely and may reappear several years/months later being used by an artisan with the same initials of a previous decorator.
Most artisans are cross-trained to work in other pottery departments. These artisans will use their stamp no matter which department they are working in.
The ink used for stamping is a potter’s ink which is made from the same materials as the stains used in applying decorations. Once fired, the ink becomes permanent on both the glaze and terra cotta.
A single initial will be used by an artisan in training in the Decorating department. Upon completion of training, the artisan will receive and use a two initial stamp.
At times, due to the decoration on a piece, stain has been applied to the area in which a decorator will stamp their initials. When this occurs, the artisan's initials will be white. When applying the initials, the ink on the stamp removes the stain/color, leaving exposed glaze which turns white with firing. This happens most often on several mug patterns/shapes.
Most pieces are stamped. Smaller pieces, such as finials may not be stamped by the decorator as the stamp overpowers the delicate decoration on the piece.
Dating Stamps and Pieces
If you have an older piece of MacKenzie-Childs ceramics, turn it over and you may be able to loosely identify the date range of its creation.
During the first few years of the company’s existence and while it occupied space in a small basement in the Village of Aurora, one Clay Former would be responsible for making pieces specifically for 2-3 decorators. The Clay Former was responsible for stamping the pieces with the identifying ‘mark’ of the artisan who would paint the piece. Heads of screws, nails, pin tools, etc. were used as identifying marks for the decorators and were embedded into the soft clay during the finishing process. One decorator may have a mark represented as two side by side impressions of the head of a Philips screw. Another decorator may have been identified by the single imprint of a pin tool (clay forming tool).
In the Spring of 1988, after moving one mile up the road and into what is our present Production Studio, stamping/initialing was stopped altogether. Stamping soon returned and the following is a rough timeline of the changes that have occurred over the years.
1989-1991
The decorators were identified by stylized single letter stamps embedded into the soft clay during the finishing process.
1991-1992
The decorators were identified by a single block letter embedded into the soft clay during the finishing process.
1992-1994
The decorators ‘marked’ pieces during the decorating process by applying a small dot of color onto the glaze near the exposed terra cotta ‘foot’ of the piece. Each decorator used a different color.
1994-1995
The decorators hand-painted a small single initial onto the glaze next to the exposed terra cotta using a brush and black stain. The single initial was either the first initial of their first name or the first initial of their last name.
1995-present
Due to the inconsistent size and look of the hand painted initial, the decorators began using rubber stamps with two initials.
Ceramics Stages and Stamps
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Stamps are applied during the finishing process. The stamp will include the year in which the piece was made followed by the initials of the artisan responsible for performing the ‘finishing’ of the piece (It is important to note that while the clay forming stamp will include the year in which the piece was made, it is not always indicative of the year in which the piece was painted/completed. Bisque inventories will be carried over from year to year so that a piece made in December will more than likely be completed the following year).
The initials are usually embedded into the piece while the clay is still damp and soft. A black ink stamp is used should the clay be too dry for an embedded stamp.
The following initials are current for the Slip Cast process:
2008 JT 2008 JB 2008 SH 2008 CD The following initials are current for the Ram Press process:
2008 LS 2008 SB 2008 PR 2008 WR The following initials are current for the Hand Builders process:
2008 WR
