An early Troika T1005 Shouldered Sand-Textured Cylinder Vase, decorated by Benny Sirota who was one of the founders of the Troika pottery alongside Lesley Illsley and Jan Thompson having taken over the Powell and Wells Pottery at Wheal Dream, near Porthgwidden beach in St Ives in 1963. Benny's signature can be quite difficult to identify as his writing and marks varied considerably, but there are a number of known traits that are used to confirm identity.
This vase will date between the start of the Troika production in 1962 until no later than 1969 when the pottery moved from St. Ives to Newlyn, and the St. Ives mark was dropped from the base.
Cylinder vases have gained huge popularity over the past few years and are becoming much harder to source. This particular vase has dark blue ground, with dark blue circles set into black squares. Cutting through these circles are dark and light bands. The shoulder is in a dark blue glaze and the interior is finished in the usual titanium white tinglaze. These vases were actually quite difficult to decorate accurately, and had to be carefully marked out in pencil before being finished. There is probably more work in these 'sand textured' vases than in the standard moulded roughware which is why you tend to find they are painted by the more established decorators rather than the YTS trainees.
The vase stands an impressive 8 inches (20cm) tall, is in excellent condition with no chips, cracks or other damage, and is now a very collectable style of Troika Roughware made all the more desirable for having the monogram of one of the founders of the pottery.
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