Gray's pottery stoke on trent wall vase

by jo
(England)

Gray's pottery stoke on trent wall vase:- When clearing out my mothers house after she died I found a wall vase, on the base it says Gray's Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent' it has a picture of a galleon as well.

It has a cream base colour and gilded
I've tried to do a search to find out how much it’s worth, but I've only found a picture of it in the Victoria and Albert Museum which doesn’t help me with the valuation.

I haven’t a clue about pottery I’m hoping someone might be able to give me an idea.

Many thanks

Jo

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Gray's pottery stoke on trent wall vase

Hi Jo

Many thanks for your pics and submission.

A. E Gray was a well known china decorator. He marketed his own brand of wares from 1934 to 1961. Gray's Pottery was a decorating studio which purchased whiteware from other makers and decorated it, thus saving money on kilns, blocking and casting. Therefore wares often had two backstamps, one of which was obscured.

Major General GA (Jack) Bond was an accomplished artist who produced a number of pottery mark designs for the company. He designed the highly successful clipper mark which was in use from the early 1930s until the last of the production in 1961. For more info on this go tothis interesting website for Grays Pottery collectors.

Perhaps the biggest claim to fame for Grays Pottery was the association with Portmeirion Pottery - a very successful and familiar name in today's market.

Susan Williams-Ellis, the founder and designer behind Portmeirion used the Gray's studio as the makers of her first Portmeirion wares. In 1961 she took over the company and the name was changed to Portmeirion Pottery. They then merged with Kirkham's Pottery. The Gray's factory was closed and the workforce moved to the Kirkham's site - formerly the Goss crested china works.

Peter (admin)

p.s. The following page is a 'must see' if you are researching fine china - for value and identification:-

Researching the identity and value of antique and vintage fine china.

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