Waimea Pottery

Jack and Peggy Laird started Waimea Pottery in 1964 at Nelson.
Many potters worked for them including their son Paul.
Adrian Bevis worked there when he was young.

I should mention that Jack Laird has passed away,
but has left his mark on NZ Pottery indeed.

A lovely stoneware jug from Waimea Pottery ..



and the Waimea Pottery mark ..

I found this coffee pot/ teapot yesterday; I love the shape and the ridges down the body of the pot, oh and the glaze of course  It has a different backstamp, than the WP but I saw simalar ones to mine on google, so I think its on the correct thread?

Definitely the right thread Janice! That is a stunning pot too, nice find me thinks!  

Here is another variation on the hand incised marking

Is this pot Jack Laird?
Note the WP is rounded, unlike the illustration above. I have quite a few Waimea pots like this. What I think is a JL is at the bottom of the picture It looks like Jack Laird to me.


Sorry about the quality, my camera is broken and the mobile has its limitations.

Can't really see those marks at all Glenys, but here is a link to Jack Laird's mark as we don't have that yet in the Gallery -
http://www.pottersmarks.co.nz/?s=jack+laird

Here's another try. The L is off the stem of the J but there is no top to the J. The WP is the same as on many of my Waimea pots. I hate the printed version of marks that NZ Potters use. I'm pretty sure it's Jack Laird though.

Hope you don't mind Glenys, I fiddled with your photo, not true colour, but you can see the marks better now.

Brilliant!  

I can see it now thank you Sunny and I agree with Glenys that it is a Jack Laird mark.
I will add it to the Potters' Marks Gallery thank you Glenys.

Pin dish with Waimea Craft Pottery stamp NZ hand decorated   

Just acquired a lovely little casserole (with one of those hollow tube handles that WP do so well), but what intrigues me about it, is under the incised "Waimea Pottery" is an incised capital E. Will post photos when I get organised!

As organised as I get!



and the mark: 

I found this Waimea Pottery Bottle today.  Actually as it has been slip cast it could have been made by one of Jack Laird's commercial ventures like Mapua or Richmond.
I tried to remove the cork, but it broke off easily.  I'm sure it is original and this would have probably contained alcohol of some sort.  The base just has New Zealand on it.
I will have to measure it next time I'm out in the studio.  It is smaller than I imagined at 195mm.

Both of these are handpotted & have WP mark

This ashtray could be taken as any one of the wares made by Waimea Pottery, generally it is Richmond or Mapua ware that is seen, but this one is Tasman ware. Isn't it great that they all have names from this region of Nelson?

I saw this in the op shop but decided to leave it behind..

I have seen a lot of Waimea Pottery over the last few years, like these lovely blue jugs, and the one in the background, but

I have never seen a mark along with the WP. It looks like a cross or t, definitely impressed, and both of these jugs have it.

I've never seen WP pottery with a mark before either.
Perhaps it is the mark of one of the potters who worked there?
It should go into the Gallery as Waimea Pottery plus mark or something like that.

I asked Paul Laird what he thought of the mark via e-mail today, and his reply:

These were done as a conference gift and I cannot remember which one . We did many runs of specifics items, some with logos and dates relating to the occasion. The cross was merely a production symbol that would result in the pot being part of that order. It doesn't relate to any particular potter but the throwing marks are very much my style.
Sorry I cannot be more precise or more exciting. Best wishes ---Paul

The lip flare and the handle position and form made me think of Adrian Bevis when I saw those jugs, but I'm not sure now. However I will be visiting Adrian next month and will show the photo to him and he may recognise who made them and have an idea about the little production mark.

I was prompted by Jeremy to add the mark on these wine cups to the gallery, as we don't have the impressed one in there, but I waited so I could do all of the following together

Impressed WP

The next lot of photos are thanks to a lovely couple I met when collecting a trade. I was indeed priviledged to be allowed to view their wonderful Nelson pottery collection, but I concentrated on Waimea Pottery, and some marks that we don't have yet. Thanks so much to Chris and Barbara for allowing me to take the photos!

The strange markings on this vase look like an angry man to me

I am unsure who JC is, and they didn't know either, all I could think of was John Crawford.

This vase is really neat, as it looks unglazed except for the drizzles


You can barely see the WP in the black as it has had something written on it and then blocked out, but apparently made by Jack Laird

This salt glazed jug is awesome

I have noticed that all the hand inscribed marks vary slightly, as this one does

Lastly is a vase that has been double stamped, which I have not seen before. Both the marks are impressed

This would have been made by Carl Vendelbosch while working at Waimea Pottery, so I assume the impressed stamp was used on older pieces perhaps.

This is brilliant information sunny! Paul Laird will know who the initials belong to.
Excellent! :claps:

I certainly didn't see all that coming.

The faces made me think of John Crawford before I got to the mark.

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

A wonderful collection of pottery and marks.