Cinque Ports Pottery (The Monastery) Rye Large Flower Vase with Swirl Design

This is a striking example of a flower vase produced by the Cinque Ports Pottery. Pottery has been produced in and around Rye in Sussex since the late 18th century. From the mid-19th century until its closure at the outbreak of World War II, The Bellevue Pottery was the dominant force. In 1947, this factory was reopened as the ‘Rye Pottery’ by the brothers John and Walter Cole, who trained many apprentices. David Sharp joined the company in 1947 and left in 1956 to form ‘Cinque Ports Pottery’ with George Gray. In 1964, the partnership ended and Gray ran the pottery, which manufactured commercial domestic ware in large quantities. Gray set up new premises at The Monastery and incorporated this in his back stamp. The pottery continued production until the 1980s, when it was taken over by Jim Elliot of Iden Pottery. The vase has an ovoid body with a trumpet shaped neck and rim. The body is decorated with a wax resist design of large swirls alternating in black and brown. These are bordered above and below by a circumferential ring in brown and then black. The remainder of the body is glazed in a glossy white shade. The base is marked with a black back stamp that reads ‘CINQUE PORTS POTTERY LTD. THE MONASTERY RYE’. It has a height of approximately 26.3cm, with a diameter across the rim of about 10.3cm and across the base of about 8.8cm. It is in good condition for its age, although there is a minute chip on the edge of the base (approximately 2mm wide). This is only visible on the closest of scrutiny. There are also some ‘cooling cracks’ at the rim (see photos). These are from the manufacturing process and are not damages. However, these flaws are reflected in the price.