Goddens left his mark

This first blog by members of the Elephant Promotions team starts with a tribute to someone, without whom, I think most of us would have floundered. This week the death was announced of of Geoffrey Godden, those that said 'who?' stand in the corner with your hands on your head. Geoffrey Godden wrote the bible that is The Encyclopaedia of British Pottery & Porcelain Marks, otherwise known as 'Goddens', and the bible by which we all learned our trade.

After buying joblots and odd boxes of pottery, we would check all the makers' marks against the trusty Goddens, in the hope of unearthing a rare or valuable piece.

It is also where I found a makers' backstamp that would cost me a lot of money and even more hours of searching.

Geoffrey Godden introduced me to Maling Pottery, I was thumbing through the 'bible' one day, looking to confirm a date on some items, when I came across the Maling mark. The fact that it was a Newcastle-on-Tyne pottery and not the normal Staffordshire factories intrigued me, so at every auction, fair, market or car boot I sought out Maling pottery. I acquired a large haul of Maling pottery and began to deal only in Maling, spending a lot of money but also making some money as well. Unfortunately the market trends have changed and Maling is not as popular as it was, I still sell as few pieces, or as I have done lately, drop a whole boxful of it, resulting in a 2000 piece Maling jigsaw.

Anyway, that's the inaugural blog, and I would just like to say:

Goeffrey A Godden (1929-2016) R.I.P.