Gray's Pottery, also spelled as Grays Pottery and formally known as A.E. Gray Ltd. was a British
pottery
Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...
company based in
Hanley, Staffordshire, later
Stoke-upon-Trent
Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England.
The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...
, which existed until it was taken over by
Portmeirion Pottery in 1960.
[Grant, Tina. ''International Directory of Company Histories, Volume 88''. St. James Press, 2007, p. 309.]
The company was founded by, and named after, Albert Edward Gray (1871–1959). Gray's business began in Stoke-upon-Trent (one of the six towns of the City of Stoke-on-Trent) in 1907 and became a production operation in Mayer Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent by 1912. It returned to Stoke-upon-Trent in 1933 and ceased by 1962.
The company, which was noted particularly for the quality of its design in the 1920s and 1930s, took part in every
British Industries Fair
The British Industries Fair was an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England.
The large complex of buildings was built in 1920 and was situated between Castle Bromwich Aerodrome and the railway line. For two weeks every year it was the most visite ...
that was held between 1915 and 1951.
[British Industries Fair. ''The Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review:'' Jun 1915, Jun 1916 p.388, Mar 1917 p.262, Apr 1918 p.309, Apr 1919 p.356, Apr 1920 p.475, Apr 1921 p.596-7, Apr 1922 p.560, Apr 1923 p.656, Jun 1924 p.1016, Apr 1926 p.602-3, Apr 1927 p.632, Apr 1928 p.624, Apr 1929 p.606, Apr 1930 p.606, Apr 1931 p.542, Apr 1932 p.492, Feb 1933 p.203, Feb 1934 p.222, Feb 1935 p.231, Feb 1936 p.248, Feb 1937 p.250, Feb 1938 p.248, Feb 1939 p.251. ''Pottery and Glass'' May 1947 p.47. ''The Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review:'' May 1948 p.417, May 1949 p.504b, Jun 1950 p.852, Jun 1951 p.738.]
Notable employees of the company include
Susie Cooper
Susan Vera Cooper OBE (29 October 1902 – 28 July 1995) was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1920s to the 1980s.
Life and work
Born in Burslem, Staffordshire, she was the youngest of ...
, who worked for Gray's in the 1920s. She stayed with the company until her 27th birthday in 1929, when she left the company in order to set up her own business.
Samuel (Clyde) Talbot succeeded Cooper as the company's Art Director around 1930, remaining until 1959. He gained national recognition on the National Register of Industrial Art Designers alongside other notable ceramic designers such as
Reco Capey,
Michael Cardew
Michael Ambrose Cardew (1901–1983), was an English studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years.
Early life
Cardew was born in Wimbledon, London, the fourth child of Arthur Cardew, a civil servant, and Alexandra Kitchin, the elde ...
,
Keith Murray
Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...
,
Eric Ravilious
Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsca ...
and
Victor Skellern, as well as Susie Cooper.
[''Pottery and Glass Record,'' Dec 1937 p.320]
References
Further reading
*
External links
Gray's pottery website including an archive of patterns, the history of backstamps used on Gray's pottery pieces, a chronology of Gray's pottery designers and a history of Gray's pottery exhibitions
{{Authority control
Ceramics manufacturers of England
Companies based in Stoke-on-Trent
Staffordshire pottery
Privately held companies of the United Kingdom
Manufacturing companies established in 1907
British companies established in 1907
1907 establishments in England
Design companies established in 1907