More English Deco: the Beauty of Poole Pottery

On my trip to England last summer, on a rainy Saturday on Portobello Road, I was captivated by a small plate made in the 1920s at Poole Pottery.  I knew of the company from my studies of English Deco ceramics but did not own any pieces or know much about evaluating and dating their products.  A very nice gentleman told me about his plate, that it was painted by Marjorie Batt in the mid-1920s, which he could tell from her cipher painted on the underside.  That day I began a new collection, comprising three pieces of Poole so far (I bought a second piece in the afternoon, a very attractive small vase done in the 1950s, from the commercial line).  I've done some reading since and know that my three hand-painted pieces with floral motifs might have been based on designs by Phoebe or Harold Stabler rather than the better known, more geometric, designs of Truda Carter.  Like Clarice Cliff  Truda Carter, John Adams and the Stablers were influenced by French Art Deco, and their designs and wares are equally intriguing.  Since they worked with matte glazes the colors are softer than Cliff's, and less hot.