Ruskin Yellow Lustre Candle Holder

If I didn't spend so much time collecting Poole, I might have more time for pots like this. Or maybe it's just the first of many! The base is marked England, Ruskin and a date 1914.  

Rich Bear, Poor Bear

Bet you can't guess which one lives in my collection. Well, maybe you can.  The bear on the left has a lovely sniffing habit and is one of six designed by Marjorie Drawbell in 1948.  It sold on eBay this week for £282.  It has a Poole stamp on the sole of it's left foot and probably has a large house in Sandbanks.  My bear on the right, is a later copy and similar bears regularly sell for about £10.  He lives in a box under a spare bed in Sheffield. 

Long Lost Relative

I won this vase on eBay a few months ago, then squirreled it away safely behind glass, then forgot all about posting it on here.  It seems a waste hiding them away - which is partly why I keep posting photos on the blog - and this one really is worth sharing.  The pattern is LV, painted by Rene Hayes in the early 1930's, and  the vase has a fabulous Deco shape (no. 576), but most of all it makes a fantastic companion for the smaller (shape 510)  and more common LT pattern vase below.

The Dolphin or the Egg?

I really like this little pin dish and I think its the first of it's kind I've seen.  While the Poole factory (dolphin) mark on the back dates it to between 1959 and 1967, the dolphin on the front closely resembles the factory mark introduced in 1962 for use on Poole Studio and continued with the later Delphis wares.   So I wonder which came first.

Website Updated

Just coming to the end of two weeks off work, during which I've crammed in a trip to Provincetown and a long overdue update of my website.  I'm not sure which was the more exhausting.

Pages to look out for:

www.robspoolepottery.co.uk/carter_and_company_and_early_carter_stabler_and_adams

www.robspoolepottery.co.uk/Poole_Pottery_Traditional_Gallery_2

www.robspoolepottery.co.uk/Poole_Pottery_Delphis_49er_Gallery

And I'm off for a long soak in the bath.

It Beats... as it Sweeps... as it Cleans

It may be a very tenuous connection to this blog.....But the little point-and- shoot Olympus VR-310, used for most of the images here and on the website, recently got a load of dust inside (somewhere between the lens and the bit that stands in for film) that began messing up all of my photos. The dust came from my pocket no doubt, as it's also the camera I carry around on holidays, but despite Google searches there seemed to be no way of cleaning it.  Until I had the bright idea of sticking the Dyson over the end of the lens and voila! Totally clean and so far still working.  Obviously, I'm not advising anyone else try this, as I'm sure the vac could suck out all kinds of vital gubbins, and I don't want to be held responsible for you breaking your expensive camera, but it worked for me and I just had to share it.

Anyway the butter dish above, sans dust, is in the CG or "Oakleaf" pattern from about 1930.

End of the road

I have some counting to do, but think this will be the 49th shape number 49 pin dish posted on my web page (when I get round to it) here http://www.robspoolepottery.co.uk/Poole_Pottery_Delphis_49er_Gallery.htm It's not the end of the road though, there will always be better looking dishes out there, but adopting a one in/one out rule will help with storage.
Painted by Patricia Wells in 1966.