On this page you will find some examples of the various methods that Blue Mountain Pottery used to identify their wares. It includes stickers, hang tags and base marks.
Although I don't have photos of all of the stickers and base marks that were used, there should be enough to help you on your way to identifying BMP.
For examples of glazes and moulds visit my photo gallery
The owners of BMP through the years
1949 - 1968 Jozo Weider
1968 - 1972 International Silver
1972 - 1985 Heritage Craftsman
1985 - 1986 Benson Lilly
1986 - 2004 Robert Blair
Stickers & Hang tags
Dating BMP isn't an exact science. It would appear that logos and stocks of hang tags and stickers, were used from one period of ownership to another. It's also not unknown for stickers and hang tags to be transferred from one piece to another.
It all gets a bit confusing and generally comes down to experience and putting all of the clues together.
The basic dates for the three most used stickers are as follows:
Three Jugs up to 1967
Three Trees between 1967 and 1976
Vase and Waves between 1976 and 2004
Various stickers and hang tags were used by the company during it's lifetime. One of the oldest stickers is a little oval black & white sticker which states merely BMP. This sticker's sole purpose was to affix an Aqua & Black hangtag (depicting 3 different styles of jugs) onto a piece of pottery that had no handle to wrap a string tag around.
The Trillium stickers were amongst the earliest ones used by BMP. Each of them was printed in 2 different sizes--7/8" across and 1¼" across. Both stickers bore the signature of Jozo Weider.
All of the above stickers were in use while Jozo Weider was owner of BMP.
Two types of the three jugs sticker. One marked up as Glaze Test Approved.
There is also a 3-trees sticker which indicates Glaze Testing.
The following hang tag was used during International Silver's ownership period. It has the signature 3 jugs on the front and the triple trees on the reverse. The introduction on the inside is done in both English and French.
The Noah’s Ark series (1968-71) carried the three trees sticker in a shade of purple. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
The vase and waves logo was introduced in 1976. On the reverse of this hang tag you can see the barcode sticker with the number 41 which is the catalogue number of the piece. In this case an 18" male swan.
The Canadian Wildlife series label was put onto the grey felt, which was affixed to the base. CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS
The following waves logo sticker is on the base of an 8” Celadon glaze vase.
Other versions of the waves logo sticker
Speciality Labels
The Pottery Studio was not constructed until 1966, prior to the 1967 Canadian Centennial. Dominic Stanzione gave demonstrations for the tourists, and also put on classes.
There were other potters who worked there besides Dominic Stanzione, either at the same time, or after he left BMP and their pieces were identified with stickers. Dominic Stanzione hand-signed his creations. The gold and blue " Hand Made Canadian Studio-Line " sticker was affixed to pieces made by these other potters.
The company introduced "The Muskoka Collection", which included the pastel glaze. A few of those items bore a yellow label.
The "Georgian Bay Collection" also had it's own particular sticker, although not many of them survived.
The red-white-blue Artistic Studio Pottery sticker was affixed to pieces that Dominic Stanzione made in his own studio, after he left BMP.
(Thanks to Linda Auderer for her help)
Base Marks
Here is a small selection of marks that can be found on the base of Blue Mountain Pottery. The dates are guidelines only and not set in stone. There will be instances where old marks were still appearing on pieces after the introduction of a new base mark because the older moulds wouldn't be replaced until they had worn out.
This is one of the earliest styles of BMP script mark, in use in the early 50's. The loops on the end of the M are inside the B&P and I believe it to have been done by Dennis Tupy.
This example of the script style BMP was used pre 1968
This example of the triple trees was used between 1967 - 76
This is a base hand signed by Dominic Stanzione, studio potter at BMP from the late 60's to the mid 70's
This block style of BMP was seen from 1972 to close in 2004. The embossed style, shown on the right, was used on all of the ROMAR pieces and some of the larger animal pieces.
BMP ink stamps.
The first one includes Jozo Weiders logo for the Blue Mountain ski resort. It was in use between 1955 and 1960. This stamp is on the base of beautifully glazed early creamer.
(thanks to Brigitte for the photo)
This is the base of a Collingwood souvenir plate. It says "Blue Mountain Pottery" around the foot of the plate with "235 Canada" in the centre.
There are two types of base marks that were used on the Apollo series shown below. Both include the mould number of the piece.
This salesman's sample was used by shops as an advertising sign for their Blue Mountain Pottery. There were three versions of this piece. This one has the waves logo on each side. . Click on this link to see pictures of the other versions. Made In Canada and Heritage Craftsmen Versions
