Poole Delphis spear platter - Carol Cutler

Poole (dolphin logo) England   82   plus decorator's monogram for Carol Cutler.

Carol Cutler, with a distinctive and painterly style, was one of numerous painters decorating pieces freehand for the Delphis range. Cutler worked for Poole Pottery from 1966-69 and is one of the most sought after decorators of Delphis pieces.

Delphis was the name used for all the Poole Pottery Studio output when it was first launched for retail in October 1963. As other ranges were developed over the following years - Aegean and Atlantis - Delphis was used to describe only the brightly coloured painted wares which used a black wax resist technique to delineate abstract patterns. Every piece is pretty much unique, with designs created by the decorators themselves and serendipity playing a big part too. Marketed as "irreproducible", this was true freedom of expression that befits the 1960s.

To encourage this experimentation and creativity during the early years, each decorator would be given a few hours a week to produce their own work, be it models, tile panels, any artistic output they wanted. Delphis became such a commercial success that demand began to encroach on these creative freedoms and later the painters terms of work changed, in 1972, from an hourly rate to piece work.

Information from: Rob's Poole Pottery web site (no longer online).