Great shape

Another pot from the Cottee's sale of the Harvey collection last month.  This shape number 608, KM pattern, footed bowl, painted by Ruth Pavely between 1922 and 1924, was lot 155. And a matching plate I appear to like so much that it got posted twice here and here.

Second hand

At the end of last month Cottees Auctions held a sale of Poole Pottery from the Harvey Collection and this pot (lot 148)  is one of several that I won.  Its shape number 422 (18 cm tall), QA pattern, and was made in the 1920's.  Its a later recreation of the Carter and Co unglazed stoneware pots and, with several firing flaws to its credit, really has the same spirit.
Its also had a notable life. Coming to me from the Harvey Collection (that I would love to know more about), it came to that collection from the 31st March 2004 Poole Pottery Archive Sale held at Christie's (part of lot number 36). So it didn't leave the factory gates until 2004 and in some ways (if you don't count Carter Stable and Adams, Pilkington's Tiles, who later took over the factory, and their successors and subsequent administrators who sold up at Christie's) I'm only the second owner in this pots 100 history.

Grapes pattern

This is a recent addition to my collection that I found at the Newark antiques fair last month.  I think its quite a nice, mid sized, shape in a pattern I also quite like. Shape 418 (16 cm tall), TR pattern painted by Ruth Pavely some time between 1925 and 1934.

Memento Mori

Remembering that you have to die isn't as popular as it once was. But it must be a thought that crops up every now and then for most collectors, who (for each pot) are just the latest custodians in a growing line or predecessors.  This little BV pattern, Portuguese stripe, stoneware jug, I won at the Cottees' Poole Pottery auction in April last year (lot 318).  Its just 7 cm in height and shape number T323 (theT tells us that its a piece of tableware). It was made in 1921.  I don't know how it found it's way into the Cottees sale, but the sticker on the base tells us that it previously belonged to Albert E. Wade, and was sold (as part of lot. 189), along with the rest of his collection of pottery, at Sotheby's in 2002.  I'm hoping it will be quite a few years before it goes to market again.

Massive Poole

I thought this photo needed something to give a sense of scale, so I've reused the little grape pattern vase from the last post.  The main attraction though is a really quite massive VT pattern vase, shape number 515, painted by Gertie Warren in the mid 1920's.  I won it on eBay a year or so ago and, at 38 cm tall, its a couple of inches bigger than any of my other pots.

Awake again!

It's been nearly 2 years since the last photo appeared on this blog, but my collecting never really stopped, and I now have quiet a few new pots that have never had an outing.  So to test the water, here's a little 9 cm tall vase, shape number 967, painted in TR (grapes) pattern by Phyllis Ryall some time between 1928 and '34.

Normal service will resume

But maybe not for several years.
After five years of determined blogging, this my second blog, has again been slightly over taken by events.
My first allotment blog had to end, along with my allotment tenancy 3 years ago, all because full time work got in the way. Now this blog is thwarted by a return to part time education,  So while I still be collecting Poole, I might not have so much time to share all of my finds.
I bought the vase above a fair few months ago.   I thought the Chinese blue bird pattern worked quite well on this shape, and at 9 inches tall it's a good size.  The pattern is PN and was painted by Anne Hatchard in the mid 1920s.

676/JB

This shape of Bokhara vase crops up less often than the other two shapes.  It comes in two sized, and at eight and tree quarter inches this is the taller one.

Straight Champions!

Arrrrrrh! Half drunk on a Friday night, I can contain myself no more. Signing up for the latest Stonewall.org.uk campaign my employer is now looking for straight allies and fight my (gay) corner. Am I the only gay man that is uneasy about Stonewall.org.uk representing me?
Like every other gay men my age, I grew up with my sexuality more or less criminalised.  As a young gay man, I've enjoyed breaking the law on many occasions and my current employer would certainly have stacked me at the time, had I been caught.
That all changed because of me and the actions of hundreds of thousands of other gay men and lesbians, some of them paid a huge price.  The law and society changed because of mass sexual disobedience. Straight allies did not do that, they cannot understand how it was, or how it is now, no matter how lovely they are.
I worry that when your persecutor becomes your champion in one fell swoop, maybe they have just found some other way of treading you into the ground.
Above, is a plate from about the time when homosexuality was partially decriminalised, painted by Jean Millership.