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.

Guy Sydenham Jugs

I won these two amazing sculptural jugs at the Cottees Poole Pottery sale last weekend.  I like them so much that posting just one photo just wont do. The Jugs were one of a group of Guy Sydenham lots that had been entered into the sale by Guy's wife Joan Sydenham, so I guess, they had been part of their own collection from the time that Guy made them.  The glaze and carving is very similar to the Poole Pottery Atlantis ware that Guy developed, but these were made in his studio on Long Island in Poole Harbour.  Both jugs have an impressed GS Island mark with two duck feet just under the handles, which dates them to between 1960-1968 - I think.

These Jugs have also inspired a new page on my website www.robspoolepottery.co.uk/guy_sydenham.htm

Blue Lace Cruet

Here is the third of my Guy Sydenham Poole pottery items i found on eBay recently.  This one came with a missing mustard pot lid, but for some reason I had one of those already, which matches perfectly. Nice to reunite them, and the missing lid probably put a few other bidders off, so the rest of the cruet came to me at a bargain price.

More New Stoneware

I was really pleased to find the left hand coffee pot last year and this year have the one on the right to add to it.  They're both from the New Stoneware range designed by Guy Sydenham  in 1967. The coffee pots were hand thrown by Alan White, the other peices were made on the jigger or jolly and then carved by Chris O'Donoghue http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/mp.cgi?item=83 .  The left hand one is in a colour called Serpentine and the new one is Pampas.  An awful lot of effort must have gone into making them and I wonder just how many were made and have since survived.  So I was all the more happy that my latest coffee pot came complete with its milk jug, sugar bowl and six perfect cups and saucers.

Sea Crest

I now have three of these storage jars designed by Guy Sydenham and Tony Morris between 1967 and '68. The Green glaze is Sea Crest: The other Blue Lace.  The larger Blue Lace jar has a really nice defined pattern of deep blue and frothy white with the whole jar becoming more frothy towards the top.  My latest addition on the right has the same blue glaze but it looks like it hasn't fired quite so well and has a more uniform mottling. 

This is the first of three Guy Sydenham related finds I've made this week, so more to follow later.

Blue Lace Glaze Storage Jar

Here's one storage jar from a range of kitchen and tableware designed by Guy Sydenham and Tony Morris in 1967.  Initially coloured in one of two reactive glazes, this one "Blue Lace" and a mottled green called "Sea Crest", this shape and others was also treated to "Traditional " painted patterns.

New Stoneware Coffee Pot

Once I started with the milk jug and sugar bowl (posted a few weeks back) I had to keep an eye out for the coffee pot, and in no time really found this one on eBay.  It's a complicated shape with it's seated lid and carved decoration, and must have been very time consuming to make.

"New Stoneware" milk jug and sugar bowl

These two are part of a coffee set designed by Guy Sydenham at Poole Pottery in 1967.  Each piece was hand-thrown and carved by Alan White and Angela Wyburgh.  The colour above is "Serpentine", and they also came in a colour called "Pampas".  

Guy Sydenham Green Island Egg Cup

This salt glazed stoneware egg cup was thrown by Guy Sydenham during the time that he lived on Green Island  in Poole Harbour (1968-88), with clay found on the island and sold at a craft shop in Corfe village.
Collecting is a slippery slope.  It starts with the idea "I wouldn't mind one of those", but then one, quickly becomes two, and before you know it its a whole new collection.  These pots made by Guy Sydenham are about the only thing at the moment that I'm collecting (there you go) that doesn't have a Poole Pottery mark.

Guy Sydenham Goblets

These were made by Guy Sydenham while he wasn't at Poole Pottery.  I've yet to decipher the marks so I'm not sure exactly when they were made.  They have a circular GS stamp, two ducks feet and a crossed circle mark on the the base.  They're stoneware and have a similar feel to Poole Atlantis pieces.  They unfortunately open up a whole new area for collecting.

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.