Bybee Pottery

Bybee was a 200+ year old studio in Middletown, Kentucky (formerly in Bybee), where the Cornelison family has been hand making pottery since 1809 (or 1845 depending on which history you believe) until recently (the family member run offshoot Little Bit of Bybee "closed" in January 2021 but unloaded a kiln as recently as August 2021) . Early on (for decades or up to a century and a half) they were known as Cornelison Pottery. Bybee did finally go out of business recently, but I don't think it was during the 2011 hiccup that they went out of business.

There appear to be at least 3 main kinds of Bybee marks and the imposter "Genuine Bybee" map one also seems to have at least 3 variations. That Genuine Bybee mark, in effect, and funnily enough, is the only one that is not actually genuine. I have read that anything stamped Genuine Bybee was made by a Lexington company that once rented studio time from Cornelison Pottery. If you come across anything that says Selden Bybee that is also not Bybee but more closely related to "Genuine Bybee" and I have read that it was made by that same company but I have also read that one of those companies was based in Waco and one in Lexington and they have no relation; pretty sure what I read in a book about them being related is more reliable than what I read on a discussion board. Either way, if it has a map or it says Genuine or Selden on it, it is not Bybee by the Cornelisons, but something else.

Bybee / Cornelison Pottery had a long history, so there are many more marks, but most marked pieces seem to have a sloppy BB on the bottom (usually incised in the clay, but sometimes in the glaze); people who know these things say the BB mark started mostly in 1980 or 1981 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. Presumably, for reasons (I have seen this on a set of 4 bowls with only on marked with the full brand name and 3 with the initials).

There seem to be innumerable variations on the usual bottom marks:

For the usual carved BB mark
1. it was increasingly just a carved BB starting sometime during the 1970s
2. it might also be a dry BB inside a pool of glaze
3. there is also a BB with 2 underlines and a BB with a long underline
4. the BB company may occasionally be accompanied by a 2 digit year
5. the BB can actual be inside a figural piece or other piece that does not have a solid bottom
6. and more to be filled in later
For the round ink stamps and impression stamps
1. there is a Cornelison one with a date of 1845
  1. I think this came in two sizes
2. there is a Cornelison one with a date of 1809
3. seems like there are variations even within those two
4. There is a round ink stamp with a single outside line that has 3 lines of very plain lettering, the top says BYBEE, the bottom says POTTERY and the middle always seems to be smudged.
5. There is a round ink stamp that reads "HAND TURNED POTTERY" and "OLD KENTUCKY" that no one can seem to agree if Bybee had anything to do with.
For the third variation of actual words on the bottom
1. It might just say Bybee on a dry bottom
2. It might say Bybee, Ky
  1. this is very occasionally seen on the side of a piece as well
3. Either of the above might be filled with glaze
4. It might have the BB and say Bybee Pottery
5. It can "WLC, Bybee" which stands for Walter Lee Cornelison, a 5th generation potter.
6. It can be a full on message with a full name and a year
7. a shape number might also be incised in the bottom (uncommon)
8. In the 1930s they used a heart surrounding three lines of words (the last two lines were Bybee, Ky)
9. In a cast piece, the Bybee, K.Y. might be raised and be accompanied by a shape number
10. In an old piece you might see incised "Handmade by Cornelison Pottery Since 1809 Bybee, Ky"
11. It might say By Walter Cornelison
12. It might say By Harvey Conner
Never forget that many pieces are unmarked

I think you could really say that over a period of roughly 100 years from when they started all possible marks have occurred and are valid, if it looks like Bybee and is marked vaguely like anything above it is probably Bybee, except for the pieces that are really Genuine Bybee or Selden Bybee.

Many Bybee shapes are cataloged on this site, but not all: http://koar.org/

Two Facebook groups are of note:

Kentucky Art Pottery Collectors is appropriate for Cornelison Pottery (also for Genuine Bybee or Selden Bybee)

Bybee Pottery Collectors is appropriate for the later works after the name change.

Dating:

traditional utilitarian stoneware pieces might likely be pre-1915, but continued into the 1940s

The bright glazed garden and patio pieces started in 1915

From 1930-1940 the signifier is apparently 3 stilt marks and ground off glaze drips.

The dinnerware was introduced in the 1940s

There seem to be molded animal pieces at least as far back as the 1940s.

A round Cornelison stamp should theoretically be pre-1954.

Unmarked pieces are common, perhaps more common in the pre-Bybee days.

Known Potters:

Walter Lee Cornelison
Eric Roberts
Harvey Conner
both Hilton brothers
Bill Gordy