These, like stenciled marks, are uniform in style and content, but often are difficult to read or partially smeared because the potter had to use a rolling action of the flat stamp on the rounded surface of the pot. These marks are not a part of the glazed and fired pot, but are applied after the pot is finished. Molded marks appear in pottery that was made in a jigger mold or was slip cast. The most common molded marks can be found on the bottoms of vessels, and can be either convex or concave. Some of these marks can be quite elaborate, since no extra work is required of the potter once the mold has been made.
Nothing helps the collector more than a maker's mark on a pot.
When a pot carries the name or initials of the potter incised, impressed, painted, or stenciled under the glaze, there can be no doubt about its provenance. Maker's marks run the gamut from a simple inscribed letter to complex stenciled logos. Some potters showed their whole name, and others only gave us their initials. Some included their locations in their marks, giving us another important piece of information. The earliest maker's marks were usually the name, or just the initials, of the potter who actually made the pot.