In the last six months, I’ve become aware that there are many collectors of the work of Mary Blakley Ceramics who believe that if their piece has an “mb” button on it, similar in appearance to this photograph,

that the piece was made by Mary Blakley. This is not necessarily the case – if the piece is an owl, pelican or character plaque, it was made by Tom Blakley. In an article that appeared in the South Dade News Leader on December 9, 1971, Tom was quoted as saying, about the MB button, that it was “very convenient to make them that way. It can stand for Mary Blakley, Mr. Blakley, or Mike Blakley. Mad Blakleys?, said Mike. “Mixed-up Blakley, added Mary. Or maybe, said the reporter, just Marvelous Blakleys. Merry Blakleys.”

The button merely signifies that the piece was made in the studio of Mary Blakley Ceramics. The buttons were made with stamps, which I have.

If your piece is missing a button or you would like a button to add to a piece that does not have one, please contact me and I will see what I can do to help. Note also, on the far left, that there is a stamp for “TB”, Tom Blakley. I do not know how many pieces had a TB button, but the fact that I have a stamp for it means that some TB buttons were produced. If you have a piece with a TB button, it is a rarity.