Worth the Wait

I must have been a bit blogged down last week and didn't post any photos, but I hope this one is worth the wait.  This large Atlantis vase came from eBay about a month ago.  It's only the third piece of Atlantis ware in my collection and is at least four times the size of the others.  Shape number A92 it stands 8 1/2 inches tall and is stamped with a CC potters mark, used at Poole by Catherine Connett's between 1973 and 76.

Atlantis Fantasy

There may be a danger of any blog degenerating into a series of sad self-disclosures, but I'm not going to let that put me off.  Mainly because I think on this occasion my fantasy might be shared,in one form or another, by most collectors.
There's not much of a story-line to this fantasy, it starts with me spotting some rare and valuable object in the bottom of a skip or in a jumble sale or charity shop and ends with me taking it home.  But I think the subject, Poole Atlantis ware, just fits the tale so well, with it's brown lumpiness,  I can imagine lots of collectors of Royal Worcester or Spode, completely passing it by, or throwing it into the skip in the first place.
Of course there's not much chance of my fantasy ever been realised (I never seem to have time to get round charity shops and I've not looked in a skip since giving up my allotment a year ago), but I thought I came close to it on Monday at the Lincoln Show Ground this week.  Surrounded by a mix of other, much more shiny, pots, the little vase above stood out like a rose among thorns for any collector of Poole.  I was right there at the start of my fantasy, with the bubble being bust only when if became apparent that the stall holder had knew all about Poole and was asking a realistic price for her vase.  Anyway, I still got to take it home, and money aside, I did still find it in a field in Lincolnshire.
Shape number A2/2, potted by Beatrice Bolton between 1972 and '74.

Atlantis

Atlantis dates from about 1969 and came from the Poole Craft Section headed up at that time by Guy Sydenham. The range has a similar look to Guy's solo work at the time.

This bowl is made from high fired red earthenware, but other Atlantis pieces have a grey stoneware body. It was thrown and carved by Catherine Connett sometime between 1973 and 1976, and is stamped with her 2 interlocking back-to-back Cs (like the Channel logo). The throwers were encouraged to mark their work at Poole for the first time by Guy Sydenham, in recognition of their individual artistic contribution.

Atlantis ware isn't all that common: I think when it was made it was quite expensive and production relatively time consuming and small scale. This is the first bit of Atlantis that I've found for my collection. Usually it's too expensive for me, but this one isn't perhaps the most exciting shape and as such it was a bit of an eBay bargain.