Art Deco Poole Pottery with Truda Carter patterns

Poole Pottery is a British pottery brand, now based in

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, Staffordshire, England. As a company, it was founded in 1873 on

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

quayside in Dorset, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations away from the quay in 1999. Production continued at a new site in Sopers Lane until its closure in 2006. The name is now a brand for products made in Staffordshire. Historical products from Poole Pottery are displayed in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

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 Phoebe Gertrude Stabler (née McLeish, 1879–1955) was an English artist working across many mediums including metalwork, pottery, enamel and wood in the late nineteenth and early-mid twentieth centuries. "Although Stabler is best known for her ...

, and potters John Adams and Truda Adams ( Truda Carter) to form "Carter Stabler Adams", who produced

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

pottery.

The Carter company produced much of the ceramic tiling used on

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

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 the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

. "Carter Stabler Adams" eventually became "Poole Pottery", and during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

and

Pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. ''Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...

. Aegean is more subtle, with the

sgraffito ''Sgraffito'' (; plural: ''sgraffiti'') is a technique either of wall decor, produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colours to a moistened surface, or in pottery, by applying to an unfired ceramic body two successive laye ...

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 Leonard Curtis is one of the largest independent firms in the UK specialising in corporate recovery, insolvency and business restructuring. It is a national practice with more than 250 staff based at offices in Manchester, Bury, Liverpool, Presto ...

were appointed

administrators Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

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 Middleport Pottery was built in 1888 by Burgess & Leigh Ltd (founders William Leigh and Frederick Rathbone Burgess). It is located at Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, England. The buildings, which still house an active pottery, are protected for t ...

(sharing with Burleigh Pottery) in

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. T ...

where production is now carried out following the closure of the Poole factory. In June 2011, the

Denby Pottery Company Denby Pottery Company Ltd is a British manufacturer of pottery, named after the village of Denby in Derbyshire where it is based. It primarily sells hand-crafted stoneware tableware, kitchenware and serveware products including dinner sets, mugs ...

under the ownership of

Hilco Hilco Global is an American financial services holding company. It operates over twenty businesses and specializes in asset valuation, advisory, monetization, and disposition services. Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, it has offices th ...

bought Poole Pottery.

References

External links

*
Virtual 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