Early Wayne Ngan pottery
For the purposes of classification in my collection, what I deem an early work by Mr. Ngan is a piece which is hand signed with his Chinese name character. According to what he said in an interview for the landmark "Thrown" exhibition at the Belkin Art Gallery in 2004, he started using his chop mark (hand carved from soapstone stamps made by a Chinese painter) in the mid-1960s. Prior to that he would sign by hand.
The pieces featured below are all hand signed.
The pieces featured below are all hand signed.
To identify an early piece of pottery by Wayne Ngan, check the signature. The Chinese character he typically used was the first in his traditional name meaning "colour." I've seen with painted or scratched on the bottom of pieces (see photos 1 and 2). The earliest works will show the same character with less flow in the script (see photos 3 and 4). Mr. Ngan also reported that he occasionally signed an early piece with his full name (three Chinese characters) but to date I have not found or seen one as such.