This post has been updated in 2023 by
Ian Scott.
Writing about
myself does not come as easy as other entries in this blog, and thus as a studio potter I am just now writing a bit about my own potter's mark. The joined VP mark is the signature used jointly by the production from the studio I shared with our late son Jack Scott from 2013-2021, and represents the initial letters of our family shop -
Village Pottery which is located in New London on the north shore of PEI. I have continued to use the same VP mark in the years since.
My wife
Daphne Large, and daughter
Suzanne Scott are also potters and in 2012 my dabbling in clay became a serious pursuit developing slab construction techniques which use many of my prior skills and tools in a converted leatherwork studio. Joined by son Jack in 2013 who had returned to PEI from Vancouver BC where he had developed an interest in ceramics, there were four family members making pottery during those very productive years. Our studios overlapped in the finishing of pieces as Daphne and Suzanne glazed and fired the work Jack and I produced, and thus they shared in the creative process of each of our pieces in selecting and applying glazes.
We played a role in their items as well by firing kilns and recycling scrap clay from their studios thus while the operation is spread over four studios in three locations in Charlottetown and in New London, most pieces have been handled by three if not four members family members before they reach our customers. Thus using a "VP PEI" studio mark for the work reflects better the combined effort than several signatures on each piece. This is also standard practice in many traditional studios where more than one potter contributes to the finished piece, and the finished piece bears the mark of the studio rather than initials of individuals.
Jack was a highly innovative potter who believed in our studio motto of continuous improvement; many of his ideas live on though the items, techniques and designs he developed which are still produced. The
Jack Scott Memorial Scholarship Fund was created in his memory supporting students graduating from his high school who like him have strong interests in Computer Science.
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| VP potter's mark with PEI and year |
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| Ceramic tool made for making VP potter's mark on base of handles. |
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| VP mark on bottom of pottery as well as on base of handle. |
