Alive With Colour
Poole Pottery is all about colour. Each piece is hand painted and therefore unique, combining traditional skills with contemporary design.
Our ceramics are created using the Living Glaze technique and are handcrafted by our team in our factory in Stoke-On-Trent. Living Glaze involves the application of different glazes which react with one another to achieve the unique results you see on each piece.
Using expert knowledge gained over years of experience layer upon layer of living glazes come alive in our hand painted designs. Bold, beautiful and each one truly unique.
Our Glazes
Maya, Celestial, Ocean and Horizon have at their core specially designed glazes which give each pattern its own character and personality. This extensive glaze knowledge has been gathered over Poole Pottery’s 150 years of creating beautiful and collectable ceramics. The glazes are applied by hand spraying, using a variety of techniques. The control of each glaze, how thick it is applied and merged with other glazes is all in the hands of the expert sprayer. A fine mist of glaze is applied one coat at a time until the perfect thickness is achieved. Effects can also be created by the sprayer to produce textures and dappling by altering the density of the glaze mist or applying layers of different colours before and after hand painting.
The glazes used for hand painting are also specially created to react with each other in the heat of the kiln to produce spectacular effects. Every piece is painted by hand, the decorating colours layered on top of one another, creating patterns and effects unique to Poole Pottery. The skilled hand painter selects from a library of different shapes and size of brush in order to achieve the desired result. It has also been known for these artisans to adapt brushes by cutting into the hairs to give them exacting control over application. These colours are applied at different thicknesses to give the beautiful striking effects that the designers have created during the development process.
When all the layering of glaze is complete, the pieces are sent to the kiln. The magic and intricacy of this skilled application is realised in the fires of the kiln; the heat driving each glaze to react with its neighbour to give the unique and dramatic patterns synonymous with Poole Pottery.
New Horizon Collection
Poole Pottery has had a long and successful history working with living glazes to depict natural scenes, flora and fauna. Horizon is the culmination of experimentation, mixing reference points from Poole’s wonderous archive with a contemporary palette of colours. To realise this vision, a brand new contemporary red glaze was developed. This new formulation creates fireworks when layered with oranges and teals; the living glazes combine to reveal never before seen combinations of colours- from violet and lilac to seafoam and cobalt.