Red Lava Glaze - Galaxy Pattern - POOLE Pottery Vase

This vibrant piece of modern pottery in the "Galaxy" pattern is from Poole, the famous UK art pottery maker. The high gloss "living lava" drip glaze was applied in beautiful reds, yellows, oranges on a smooth, flat black background, a technique Poole is justly famous for. On this particular baluster shaped vase, the fiery glazes have been applied more generously than on many other examples, forming long loops that end in raised drips and blobs. The glazes are termed "reactive," meaning that each hand applied glaze reacts with the others to form one of a kind pieces. The vase is glazed black inside and on the bottom; the foot rim is unglazed where you can see the white clay that formed the vase.

The bottom of the vase is marked with POOLE and a leaping dolphin. Below the dolphin is the word POTTERY and then ENGLAND, all of which is a bit difficult to see in photograph #4, as it is stamped in gray on the black background. This mark was used at the studio between the late 1960's and the early 1980's. There is a painted white letter K also on the bottom, which is a decorator's mark.

This vase is 8 inches tall and 6 inches wide at the belly. The mouth is 4 1/4 inches across, the base is 3 1/4 inches in diameter and it weighs a sturdy 3 pounds. Other than a small shallow chip on the bottom rim, which you can can see on the left side of photograph #2  (the white dots on the lava glaze are highlights, not flaws), it is in outstanding condition and a wonderful piece for a modern art pottery collection.

FF 3904