News

Over £100,000 in donations from the general public, individual benefactors and the Borough of Poole has been used to secure valuable Poole Pottery archives and artefacts at an auction at Christie’s today.

The important pieces saved for the town include a 1920 tile map of Poole Old Town, a range of vases, plates and pottery as well archives, ledgers, pattern designs and drawings. Out of 100 lots selected as relevant to the Borough, 66 were secured at the auction.

Poole Pottery, its archive and collection of ceramics plays a significant role in the identity of Poole. The archive is one of the most important business archives in the area and, as far as is known, contains the only known surviving records of the earlier history of Poole Pottery.

Cllr Tony Woodcock, Culture & Community Learning Portfolio Holder, said; "I just want to thank everyone who made a contribution whether large or small to this worthwhile fund. Without the generosity of these individuals and local organisations, we would not have been able to secure these pieces, in particular the archives show just how significant a part the Pottery has played in the town’s history. We are of course disappointed that we’ve not been able to secure more of the collection. Unfortunately although the Council made a bid for the whole collection back in July last year, this was rejected due to the potentially high valuations and level of interest in it. This is to be expected given that Poole Pottery is internationally renowned for its quality and collectors world-wide showed an interest at the auction."

The archives and artefacts will receive specialist storage by the Borough of Poole’s Museum Service and selected items will put on display later this year.

Funding secured for the auction was donated as follows:

• £14.5k from over 200 public donations n
• £25k from the Borough of Poole n
• £20k from the Valentine Trust, a charitable organisation based in Poole n
• £10k from Kinson Pottery, one of the three companies founded by the Carter family which included Poole Pottery and Carter Tile. n
• £10k from Peter Ford the new owner of Poole Pottery n
• £13,379 from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund
• £7.5k Dorset County Council Records Office n
• £3k Friends of National Libraries