Cinque Ports (The Monastery) Rye Green and Black Coffee Pot

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. This is a good example of a George Gray Cinque Ports Pottery coffee pot. The coffee pot is approximately cylindrical in shape, tapering in slightly towards the rim. The plain strap handle is attached just below the rim and sits about halfway down the pot. The spout is short and is ‘drawn’ out of the side opposite the handle. It is decorated with a striated matt green base glaze and a wax-resist black glaze band of vertical lines at the lower point of attachment of the handle. The lid is slightly domed and has a tall cylidrnical knop at the apex. It is glazed in green on the exterior, and the edge and the interior are glazed in white. The interior of the coffee pot is also glazed in white. The underside has a black back stamp, which reads ‘CINQUE PORTS POTTERY LTD. THE MONASTERY RYE’. It has a height including the lid of approximately 27.0cm. It is in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks, although there are a few burst bubbles on the interior of the rim. These are manufacturing artefacts and do not detract from the piece in any way.