Rob's Poole Pottery Collection

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The classification of these pages is pretty loose.  Some of the patterns below are so abstract that it's hard to see any herbaceous heritage at all, and I suspect for one or too there is none.  Which is just as well as usually the more floral they are, the less I like them.

So starting with some of my favourite unflowery vases below: The BY pattern (middle two vases) and the UE pattern (right hand spill vase) are much more likely to have been influenced by early Twentieth Century abstract Art.  The BY pattern is very reminiscent of paintings by Wassily Kandinsky and and the UE pattern looks to be in the style of Robert and Sonia Delaunay.

Traditional Poole Pottery with Very "Jazz Modern" Decoration (Art Deco as it was later called) GF, BY and UE Patterns

From left to right; shape number 546, 16cm tall spill vase, GF pattern, painted by Nellie Bishton between 1927 and '32; shape number 354, 8.5cm tall vase, BY pattern, painted by Rene Hayes between1926 and '34; shape number 205, 14cm tall spill vase, BY pattern, painted by Nellie Bishton between 1927 and '32; and shape number 205, 14cm tall spill vase, UE pattern, unknown decorators mark, made between 1930 and '34.

Click on a vase to enlarge view

Two QD pattern Vases (with and without ears)  

On the left, shape number 113, 12cm tall vase, painted by Doris Marshall between 1926 and '34;

and the right, shape number 461, 13cm tall vase, painted by Clarice Heath between 1929 and 1934 

I love the the KERR-POW image of a ball bouncing off a tennis net?

Click on a vase to enlarge view

Three Sweet Pea Pattern Pots

From left to right;  shape number 199, 15cm tall vase (TY pattern), painted by Miriam Jones between 1930 and 1934; shape number 438, 8.5cm tall vase vase (XP pattern), painted by Winifred Collett probably in 1935; and shape number 122, 12cm tall vase (TY pattern), painted by Ruth Gough between 1927 and 1934.

XP is one of my favourite Poole Patterns.  It's often referred to as Sweet Pea due to the blue seed pods or flowers, but what I like are the other abstract details - the little red devil's tail, the sun-burst flower and chevron arch.  Unfortunately I think lots of other people also like this pattern so so it doesn't seem to be listed on eBay all that often, and it usually gets high prices.

Sometimes variations on a pattern were marked with different codes, but I can't see any difference in the patterns above, so I'm not sure why they have different pattern codes.

Click on a vase to enlarge view

Art Deco Chinoiserie

From left to right;   shape number 905, 10cm tall jug, LP pattern unknown decorators mark, made between 1930 and '34;  shape number 440, 14cm tall vase,  PI pattern, painted by Clarice Heath between 1929 and 1934: and shape number 113, 12cm tall vase, PU pattern, painted by Rene Hayes between 1926 and 1934.

Apart from the angular jazzy shapes, what I really love about these Art Deco designs is their habit of borrowing from other artistic traditions.  Ancient Egypt was a firm favourite and there's a group of vases below that show this,  but crossing continents, these vases have the most gorgeous Chinese inspired decoration.  The PI and PU vases having the same pattern but in different colourways - I'm not sure which I like the most.  The PI pattern vase in the center has been photographed before I owned it and appears on page 69 of Robert Prescott-Walkers "Collecting Poole Pottery"

TJ Pattern

From left to right; shape number 113, 12cm tall vase , painted by Iris Skinner between 1928 and '34: shape number 712, small plate with handle 15cm diameter , painted by Mirriam Jones between 1930 and '34; and shape number 305, 10cm tall jug , painted by Ruth Pavely between 1924 and '34.

Getting a 2-dimentional pattern to fit a round a 3-dimentional shape will always require some adaptation.  The vase and jug here are more or less mirror images, one tapering towards the top the other towards the base, with the pattern has been adapted accordingly, some elements added, swapped, removed or stretched/squashed to fit.

Click on a pot to enlarge view

LT Pattern

From left to right; shape number 116, 9 cm tall  vase, painted by Gwen Dry between 1928 and '34; 

shape number 567, 7 cm tall bowl painted by Winifred Collett between 1924 and '34; shape number 585, 9 cm tall vase , painted by Phyllis Ryall between 1928 and '34; and shape number 361, 9 cm tall vase, painted by Marjorie Cryer between 1927 and '34.

Click on a pot to enlarge view

JV Pattern

From left to right; shape number 361, 9cm tall vase, painted by Ruth Gough between 1927 and '34; shape number 959, 12cm tall vase, painted by Winifred Collett who worked at Poole from 1922 and 1934; and shape number 260, 10cm tall preserve jar, painted by Dorothy James between 1924 and '34

Trumpet Shaped Vases shape number 199, 15cm tall

From left to right; "Sweet Pea"  pattern vase (TY), painted by Miriam Jones between 1930 and 1934; ZH pattern, painted by Hilda Hampton between1934 and '37; and YW pattern, painted by Doris Marshall between1926 and '34

Click on a pot to enlarge view

More Jazzy Art Deco Poole Preserve Pots JV, TJ and XP Patterns. 

From left to right; shape number 260, 10cm tall, JV pattern, painted by Dorothy James between 1924 and '34; shape number 390, 13cm tall, TJ pattern, painted by Gwen Dry between 1928 and '34; and shape number 288, 10cm tall,  XP pattern, painted by Marjorie Batt between 1925 and '34

Just like the pots themselves, the lids are also hand-thrown and painted.  Poole made it easy to match lids to pots by marking the underside of most lids with the same pattern name and painters mark that you find on the base of the pot.  All the lids, like the three above, are different and should match the pattern on the pot they top.  90 years after they were joined together it seems that the majority of pots for sale don't have matching lids.  Maybe there needs to be an internet forum just for the swapping of mismatched lids.

Poole Traditional Pottery in Similar EE, ED, TS and ZY Patterns

From left to right. Back row; shape number 310, 15cm tall, ED pattern jug, painted by Gwen Dry between 1928 and '34;  shape number 909, 26cm diameter, EE pattern plate, painted by Dorothy James between 1924 and '34; and shape number 239, 15cm tall, ED pattern lidded biscuit jar, painted by Nellie Bishton between 1927-34.  Middle row; shape number 334, 12.5cm tall, ZY pattern gourd shape vase, painted by Marjorie Batt between 1925 and '35;shape number 266, 15cm tall , TS pattern vase, painted by Phyllis Ryall between 1927 and '34; and shape number 115, 12cm tall , ED pattern trumpet shape vase, painted by Marjorie Batt between 1925 and '35.  Front row; shape number 288, 10cm tall preserve pot, EE pattern painted by Nellie Bishton between 1927 and '-34: and  shape number 361, 9cm tall, EE pattern Nellie Bishton between1927 and '32.

Discovering something of the provenance of a pot can make it much more special.  The trumpet shape vase shape number 115, painted by Marjorie Batt is a great example of this.  Marjorie Batt was interviewed for the first Poole Pottery Collectors Club magazine published in 1995.  There she says that, when she joined Poole in 1925, like many new decorators, she was first "apprenticed" painting the more simple "sprig" flower decorations.  Two years later she began to paint elaborate decorations and YO pattern (a version of the above patterns) was her first.  This must have been a big day, as she saved up and bought the first small elaborate vase she decorated, and a photo of her vase is shown on page 13 of the magazine.  The vase I have painted by Marjorie Batt (115/ED) turns out to be the spitting image of the one she painted for herself aged 16 in 1927.

More Variations on the YO Pattern Vase with Bonus Boarders

From left to right;  shape number 443, 17cm tall, XA pattern, painted by Vera Bridle between 1923 and '33; shape number 438, 17cm tall, YO pattern, painted by Marjorie Batt between 1925 and '34; and shape number 266, 15cm tall , TS pattern, painted by Phyllis Ryall between 1927 and '34

Anyone for Pool? or 10 Pin Bowls! 

Poole Pottery Traditional Vases all Shape Number 354 (8.5cm tall) OR, BN, WL, EE, V, FQ, TR, BY, ZY, and PD

From left to right. Back row, OR pattern, painted by Gertie Warren between1922 and '27; BN pattern, painted by Rene Hayes between1926 and '37; WL pattern painted by Truda Rivers between 1922 and '32; EE pattern, unidentified painters mark pre1934. Third row;  V pattern (AKA Leo the Lion), painted by Myrtle Bond between between 1927 and '37; FQ pattern, painted by Ethel Barrett between1922 and '27; and TR pattern, (grapes pattern) painted by Phylis Ryall between1928 and '34.  Second row, PD pattern, painted by unknown painters mark pre 1934;and  ZY pattern, painted by Winifred Collett between 1922 and '34. Front row, BY pattern, painted by Rene Hayes between1926 and '34.

Left, shape number 575, 19 cm tall vase, CO pattern, unknown painters mark, 1924-1934; and right, shape number 424 (14 cm tall), EJ pattern, painted by Marian Heath between, 1925 and 1934

Click on a pot to enlarge view

Back, Studland side plate, 22 cm in diameter , painted in MW pattern by Margaret Holder circa 1927; left, vase shape number 112, 12cm tall, painted in GTY pattern by Nellie Bishton between 1927 and 1934; and right,  vase shape number 113, 12cm tall, painted in YE pattern by Clarice Heath between 1934 and 1937

As well as the multicoloured patterns painted on Traditional Poole, less common, more restricted palettes were also used.  The plate above has no shape number, it's and has 8 little indents round the edge that match up with the lightening strikes. I think it comes from the Studland tea service designed by John Adams.  The same plate is illustrated on page 66 of "Collecting Poole Pottery" Robert Prescott-Walker.  

The concentric, overlapping and dissected circle motif used on the YE pattern vase I've heard described as abstract bumble bees, which in their yellow and black form is very apt. And like other Truda Carter patterns they also remind me of the paintings by Sonya and Robert Delaunay of the same period. 

Fresh from the mummies tomb

From left to Right, CR pattern vase, shape number 974, 18 cm tall, painted by Hilda Hampton between 1927 and 1934; CG pattern bowl, shape number 921, 8 cm tall, painted by Winifred Collett between 1924 and 1934; CR pattern vase, shape number 574, 16 cm tall, painted by Vera Bridle between 1923 and 1933; NA pattern vase, shape number 117, 8 cm tall,  painted by Gwen Dry between 1928 and 1934; and shape number 595, 11.5cm tall vase, NB pattern, painted by Rene Hayes between 1926 and '34;

One of the nice things about Art Deco design is the way it incorporated motifs found on older artifacts, usually from more exotic cultures.  They were particularly heavy on Ancient Egypt (which isn't surprising given the excitement of the tomb discoveries in the preceding years - Tutankhamun's tomb was excavated in 1922).  Poole Pottery in the, 20's and 30's was no exception to this and the Truda Carter designs on these pots abound with Ancient Egyptianesk decoration.   And the restricted colour palette just adds to their style.

Shape number 220 11.5cm in diameter bowl, SM pattern bowl 

painted by Eileen Prangnell between 1924 and '34.

Gallery 1.5

(Fauna)

Gallery 2

(geometric)