Poole Pottery

About Poole Pottery

After post-war Design Council restrictions were lifted in 1954, Poole Pottery sought to return to its art-pottery roots and began to develop a new and modern look in ceramics. Alfred Read was hired as chief designer leading to the production of a range of freeform designs that were modern, organic and simple in style and which have come to typify 1950’s design.

Freeform was a new, more modern style, developed after WW2 and Freeform patterns were applied to a wide range of shapes, many of which were designed by Alfred Read and Guy Sydenham, two of Poole Pottery’s most creative talents.

In 1958 Poole set up a semi-independent studio within the factory to produce studio pottery. Headed by Robert Jefferson, with Tony Morris as a key designer, a range of studio pottery was produced that later became a model for the well-known, brightly coloured Delphis range of the 1960s and 1970s. The studio also produced two other noted art pottery ranges in the 1970s: Atlantis and Aegean.