Blue banded Poole pot
Blue banded Poole pot (mark)
Blue glazed Poole cat
Blue glazed Poole cat (mark)
Carter Stabler and Adams candle holder
Carter Stabler and Adams candle holder (mark)
Carter Stabler and Adams vase
Carter Stabler and Adams vase (mark)
Delphis vase
Delphis vase (mark)
Early Poole vase
Early Poole vase (base)
Floral Poole dish
Floral Poole dish (mark)
Frilly Poole vase
Frilly Poole vase (mark)
Large Poole 'Vincent' jug
Large Poole 'Vincent' jug (mark)
Large Poole conch
Large Poole conch (mark)
Magnolia white Poole vase
Magnolia white Poole vase (mark)
Modern Poole pot
Modern Poole pot (label)
Modern Poole Pottery bowl
Modern Poole Pottery bowl (mark)
Old Poole vase
Old Poole vase (mark)
Pale grey Poole pot with yellow flowers
Poole 'medium' Calypso vase
Poole 'medium' Calypso vase (mark)
Poole 'YFT' vase
Poole 'YFT' vase (mark)
Poole 1981 Christmas plate
Poole 1981 Christmas plate (mark)
Poole Aegean footed bowl
Poole Aegean footed bowl (mark)
Poole Aegean pot
Poole Aegean pot (base)
Poole Aegean vase
Poole Aegean vase (marks)
Poole Alan White studio pot
Poole Alan White studio pot (base)
Poole baby owl
Poole baby owl (marks)
Poole bamboo pot
Poole bird
Poole bird (mark)
Poole BLA bird on a mushroom
Poole BLA bird on a mushroom (mark)
Poole BLA mouse on corn
Poole BLA mouse on corn (marks)
Poole BLA nuthatch
Poole BLA nuthatch (marks)
Poole Bluebird vase
Poole Bluebird vase (marks)
Poole Calypso Lustre vase
Poole Calypso Lustre vase (mark)
Poole Calypso vase II
Poole Calypso vase II (mark)
Poole Conch
Poole Coronation jug
Poole Coronation jug (back)
Poole Coronation jug (mark)
Poole cup and saucer
Poole cup and saucer (mark)
Poole Delphis bowl
Poole Delphis bowl (mark)
Poole Delphis dish
Poole Delphis dish (mark)
Poole dish 1
Poole dish 2
Poole dish 3
Poole dish 3 (mark)
Poole dishes (mark)
Poole double-dolphins
Poole double-dolphins (mark)
Poole fawn
Poole fawn (mark)
Poole floral plate
Poole floral plate (marks)
Poole Freeform bowl
Poole Freeform vase
Poole Freeform vase (marks)
Poole Freeform Wave bowl
Poole Freeform Wave bowl (mark)
Poole Galaxy bowl
Poole Galaxy bowl (marks)
Poole Harvest vase
Poole Harvest vase (mark)
Poole heart dish
Poole heart dish (mark)
Poole hors d'oeuvre dishes
Poole hors d'oeuvre dishes (mark)
Poole jampot
Poole jampot (mark)
Poole jampot with handle
Poole jampot with handle (mark)
Poole jug
Poole jug (mark)
Poole map plate 1
Poole map plate 1 (mark)
Poole map plate 2
Poole map plate 2 (mark)
Poole maple leaf plate
Poole maple leaf plate (marks)
Poole Olympus stoneware vase
Poole Olympus stoneware vase (base)
Poole orange Delphis dish
Poole orange Delphis dish (mark)
Poole Pot
Poole puppy with slipper
Poole puppy with slipper (mark)
Poole purse vase
Poole purse vase (back)
Poole purse vase (mark)
Poole Sienna bowl
Poole Sienna bowl (marks)
Poole Sienna vase
Poole Sienna vase (marks)
Poole Temptation plate
Poole Temptation plate (back)
Poole toads
Poole toads (marks)
Poole traditional freeform vase
Poole traditional freeform vase (marks)
Poole twin dolphins
Poole twin dolphins (mark)
Poole winkle shell
Poole winkle shell (mark)
Poole zebra plate
Poole zebra plate (marks)
Rectangular Poole dish
Rectangular Poole dish (mark)
Ripple serving dish
Ripple serving dish (mark)
Round Poole dish
Round Poole dish (mark)
Small Poole jar
Small Poole jar (mark)
Traditional Poole jug
Traditional Poole jug (marks)
Two Poole plates
Two Poole plates (mark)
Vincent breakfast cup (mark)
Vincent breakfast cup and saucer
White Poole coffee jug
White Poole pot with green design

Poole Pottery

Poole, in Dorset, due to the abundance locally of good red clay, had long been a centre for the making of pottery when Jesse Carter bought James Walker's tile manufacturing company in 1873. In 1895, Carter & Co. took over the Architectural Pottery Company in Hamworthy. The wares produced then were mainly floor and wall tiles, architectural decorations, shop fascias. Owen Carter, Jesse's son, developed the production of art pottery with different glazes, and by the time of the first World War, the company was making a wide range of decorative wares.

Expansion followed and after Owen's death in 1919, his brother Charles found it difficult to meet the ever increasing demand for the company's products. He discussed the matter with his friend, Harold Stabler, and Stabler persuaded the Stoke potter John Adams to move down to Poole. The partnership of Carter, Stabler and Adams was born in 1921.

It could be said that the thirties were Poole's heyday. Some of the most memorable designs come from that time. Truda Carter, Charles's wife, and John Adams produced a succession of outstanding patterns that have become classics.

The forties were something of a black hole. Wartime restrictions curtailed production severely, and by the start of the following decade most of the original design team had retired or died. A new managing director, Lucien Myers, took the Poole Pottery into the fifties, and again the company was in the forefront with their new 'contemporary' designs that really characterized the Britain of the fifties.

The designs of the sixties and seventies were a complete departure from anything that had gone before. The paintresses were allowed a free hand, and their abstract patterns were, as in previous eras, exactly right for the time. These patterns defined the look of the sixties and were enormously popular. As with most extreme fashions, they were to become passé, and the bright orange, yellow and brown pieces were often hidden or discarded in the following decades. A revival of interest in the nineties, though, has seen the prices paid for these item rocket. Looking at the designs from a viewpoint where they are neither fashionable nor unfashionable, they are outstandingly good.

Poole Pottery continues to flourish and to produce wares that are right for the time. There is a thriving collectors' club, and interest does not flag.


Further Reading:
  Poole Pottery edited by Leslie Hayward and Paul Atterbury
 
 Poole Pottery : Poole in the 1950s by Paul Atterbury


 
You can buy this book on line
North America
 
North America
Poole Pottery - Choose your bookseller Europe
 
Europe
Poole Pottery by Leslie Hayward and Paul Atterbury

Please support our sponsors and help offset the cost of maintaining this site by clicking on the banner links.

Leauger elephant