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 raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...
company based in
Hanley, Staffordshire
Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The town is the main business, commercial and cultural hub o ...
, later
Stoke-upon-Trent
Stoke-upon-Trent, also known as Stoke, is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall form the city of Stoke-o ...
, which existed until it was taken over by
Portmeirion Pottery
Portmeirion is a British pottery company based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. They specialise in earthenware tableware.
History
Portmeirion Pottery began in 1960 when pottery designer Susan Williams-Ellis (daughter of Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, ...
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 (BIF) was an annual trade show held between 1915 and 1957, most often at twin venues, in London and Birmingham, England. The first show took place in 1915 during World War I at the Royal Agricultural Hall, London, to e ...
that was held between 1915 and 1951.
[British Industries Fair. ''The Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review:'' June 1915, June 1916 p.388, March 1917 p.262, April 1918 p.309, April 1919 p.356, April 1920 p.475, April 1921 p.596-7, April 1922 p.560, April 1923 p.656, June 1924 p.1016, April 1926 p.602-3, April 1927 p.632, April 1928 p.624, April 1929 p.606, April 1930 p.606, April 1931 p.542, April 1932 p.492, February 1933 p.203, February 1934 p.222, February 1935 p.231, Feb 1936 p.248, February 1937 p.250, February 1938 p.248, February 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, June 1950 p.852, June 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 ...
, 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 pottery, 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 ...
,
Keith Murray
Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1972) is an American rapper from New York. He is best known for being a member of the hip hop group Def Squad, which includes fellow rappers Redman and fellow Long Island native Erick Sermon. The group releas ...
,
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, Castle Hedingham and othe ...
and
Victor Skellern, as well as Susie Cooper.
[''Pottery and Glass Record,'' December 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