Burley Winter Pottery

Apr 3, 2018

Burley Winter used a wide variety of marks throughout their time in business. The earliest appear on crocks and other utilitarian ware, usually the words "Burley Winter, Crooksville, O" or something similar. At the turn of the century, they began using the so-called "Heart" mark, the Letters "BW" surrounded by a heart symbol. These marks are not normally found on their art pottery, which came much later in the 1920's.

Early Blended Art pieces are occasionally found signed "Burley Winter" in the base, but normally they only have the shape number. It is also not uncommon to find authentic pieces with no markings whatsoever. The base is normally glazed with the same base color as the rest of the vase, but without the secondary blended color.

Unlike many of the other potteries of the time such as Owens Pottery and Roseville Pottery, the shape number is typically hand incised, rather than stamped. This led to a wide variance in the scripting of the numerals used for the shape numbers.

The New Burley Winter Pottery produced after 1997 is clearly stamped on the base "The New Burley Winter Pottery", which was done to avoid any confusion to collectors. It is interesting to note that the earlist pieces of the new line are now over 20 years-old and rightfully considered to be vintage.

Below are some examples of what typical Burley Winter Pottery base glaze smears and markings look like.