Royal Oak Tapered Mug Impressed NZ

This mug is 83 mm high and 65 mm across the top. Taper reduces about 20 mm from the base. It is impressed NZ and has an elongated S in script as well. This could be just a scratch. Same shape as the RO Sama salt and pepper etc. The cream body is very finely crazed. I have not seen that on RO much before.

Mike, the "S" mark has appeared before so we can be sure this is Royal Oak.
I have just one such mark amongst all my RO.

And now we know Sama is Royal Oak I'm guessing that is what the S is for.

I don't remember seeing that crazing before either: maybe someone boiled it.

Is the S mark like these Mike?

http://newzealandpottery.forumotion.net/t4845-royal-oak-cup-with-backstamp

I thought it stood for Salisbury, but it could well be for SAMA.

Yes it is exactly that...cannnot quite see the left dot but the right one is there. NZ identical.

Could be the same thing anyway, Ev, as "SA" of SAMA is Salisbury!

Now we are seeing a bit of the SAMA glazes and are able to distinguish them from other RO glazes, I'd say this one is SAMA, and thus perhaps an early shape. Might also explain the crazing.

(I think Val's blurb on SAMA led us to thinking the SAMA were earlier rather than later RO pottery.)

The S mark in this post is Owen Salisbury's mark. He had his own workshop alongside Royal Oak in his semi-retired years.