Poole Pottery
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Poole Pottery is a British pottery brand owned by Denby Pottery Company, with the products made in Stoke on Trent,
Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...
. It was founded as a manufacturer in 1873 on
Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...
quayside in Dorset where it produced pottery, before moving its factory operations in 1999 to a new site in Sopers Lane until its closure in 2006. They generally specialised in
earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...
, although other bodies such as
stoneware Stoneware is a broad class of pottery fired at a relatively high temperature, to be impervious to water. A modern definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire ...
were periodically produced. Historical products from Poole Pottery are displayed in museums including the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
in London.


History

Poole Pottery was originally "Carter's Industrial Tile Manufactory" and it was this company that provided the financial foundation for the later "Poole Pottery". Carter (Jesse) joined forces in the 1920s with designers Harold Stabler and Phoebe Stabler, and potters John Adams and Truda Adams ( Truda Carter) to form "Carter Stabler Adams", who produced
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
pottery. The Carter company produced much of the ceramic tiling used on
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
stations built in the 1930s and, of particular note, made the relief tiles, designed by Stabler, showing symbols of London–some of these can still be seen on stations such as
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...
. "Carter Stabler Adams" eventually became "Poole Pottery", and during and after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
produced many lines, including Twintone and Traditional. Much of the traditional range was based on the work of the chief designer in the 1920s, Truda Carter; her original designs were interpreted by "paintresses" who added their own individuality to the pieces, all of which were handmade. Robert Jefferson joined in the 1950s, and alongside such artisans as Leslie Elsden (designer of the "Aegean" Range), Guy Sydenham, thrower and designer of the "Atlantis" range, Tony Morris, developer of the early "Delphis" Studio wares with Jefferson, and paintresses such as Carol Cutler, Diana Davies, Ros Sommerfeld, Ann Godfrey and others, including the three Wills sisters, Laura, Julia and Carolyn, produced two lines which are probably the most famous of all Poole's output: Delphis and Aegean. Delphis is easily recognised: it is psychedelic, with vibrant colours and designs inspired by artists such as Mondrian,
Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
, Matisse and
Pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic ocean, marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. ''Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as "pollock" in North America, Ireland and the Unit ...
. Aegean is more subtle, with the
sgraffito (; ) is an artistic or decorative technique of scratching through a coating on a hard surface to reveal parts of another underlying coating which is in a contrasting colour. It is produced on walls by applying layers of plaster tinted in con ...
technique used to create the "silhouette" patterns that make this range so recognisable.


Twintone

Poole Pottery (Carter, Stabler and Adams) produced two-coloured tableware from the 1930s, but had to stop production during World War Two. When they re-launched the range in the late 1940s, they named it Twintone. Twintone was used on three shapes of tableware, many table accessories and a whole host of decorative ware right up to 1981.


Delphis

The Poole Delphis range, launched in 1963, was initially conceived by Guy Sydenham and Robert Jefferson and later developed by Jefferson and Tony Morris. Every piece is pretty much unique, with designs created by the decorators themselves.


Aegean

Introduced in 1970, Aegean utilises spray-on glazes in a wide range of techniques (sgraffito, silhouette, mosaic, flow line and carved clay) and patterns (from pure 1970's abstraction to more figurative images of fish, leaves, boats and pastoral scenes). Initially thought of as a replacement for Delphis, it was never as successful.


Living Glaze

Poole Pottery giftware is currently created using "Living Glaze". This involves the application of different glazes which react with one another to achieve unique results on each piece.


Closure and re-establishment

Leonard Curtis were appointed administrators in 2003, and sold the company as a going concern to Dorset businessman Peter Ford. They also raised funds for creditors by selling historic artefacts from the Pottery's museum. On 15 December 2006, it was announced that the shop would close, due to non-payment of debts mounting up since new owners took over in August. The company, including the factory, went into administration on 20 December 2006, owing £1 million to over 300 creditors.Prestigious pottery maker closes
BBC News, 20 December 2006
Poole Pottery came out of administration on 10 February 2007 and was under the control of Lifestyle Group Ltd, which also owns Royal Stafford Tableware. The pottery shop opened on Poole Quay, selling Poole Pottery giftware (first and seconds), lighting, tableware and studio ranges. The shop closed down in 2017. The main Poole Pottery factory is now at the Middleport Pottery (sharing with Burleigh Pottery) in
Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...
, Stoke on Trent where production is now carried out following the closure of the Poole factory. In June 2011, the Denby Pottery Company under the ownership of Hilco bought Poole Pottery.


See also

Poole Museum (Dorset)


References


External links

*
The Poole Pottery Archive at Dorset History CentreVirtual Museum of Poole PotteryThe Denby Family
{{Authority control English pottery Ceramics manufacturers of England Tourist attractions in Poole Companies based in Poole Companies established in 1873 History of Poole Art pottery