Kentucky Bybee Sponge Ware Pottery Ceramic Pitcher

Description

A blue and white sponge ware pitcher made by Bybee Pottery Studio in Madison County Kentucky. Signed at the bottom … more A blue and white sponge ware pitcher made by Bybee Pottery Studio in Madison County Kentucky. Signed at the bottom BB.
Bybee was a 200+ year old pottery studio located in Middletown, Kentucky (formerly in Bybee), where the Cornelison family had been making pottery by hand since the 1840s until recently (the family member running Little Bit of Bybee store closed in January 2021). Early on they were known as Cornelison Pottery.
There are a few different maker's marks, but most marked pieces seem to have a sloppy BB on the bottom (usually incised in the clay, but sometimes in the glaze); pottery experts say the BB mark started mostly in 1980s with a few possibly being in the 70s but not earlier. Some, including ones produced at the same time and presumably by the same person, have the word Bybee incised on the bottom. less