Joan Gray 1918 - 2001
The daughter of AE Gray from his second marriage. Joan was a designer and journalist prior to her marriage to Ronald Bailey, a senior British diplomat, whose career took them to many parts of the world. Joan Gray trained at Burslem School of Art, achieving success in craft and design in a number of disciplines.
DESIGNS
Joan designed items in the buff-bodied wares of the mid-to-late 1930s such as wall pockets for flowers (Illustration 21), single and double free-standing cornucopia (Illustration 22) and large circular wall plaques with relief moulded sailing ships (Illustration 23).
Illustration 21
These wall pockets were supplied in two sizes (the small size, 215 high, illustrated here) and in various colourways: undecorated, green leaves, autumn leaves etc. They were made exclusively for Gray’s Pottery by Kirklands of Etruria.
(left) Matt straw glaze, unknown pattern, mark R2.
(centre) Pattern A4691, green shaded leaves, mark R2.
(right) Green glaze, unknown pattern, mark R2.
Illustration 22
Single cornucopia, matt straw glaze, unknown pattern, 127 high, mark R2.
Double cornucopia, pattern A5863, 170 high, mark R2.
Illustration 23
Joan Gray produced a number of these ship plaques (275 dia) which were decorated in either ‘day’ or ‘night’ versions (incorporating a moon – right-hand image above). In the left-hand image above:
Plaque on left: unknown pattern, mark R2.
Plaque on right: pattern A4724 (though not marked). Mark N4 together with two monograms:
(for Joan Hassall Gray) and 
(indicating
that it was eligible for display at a British Industries Fair). See thumbnail right
Upturned plaque at front: backstamp N2 plus two labels: A4724 108/5 each (£5.42) and Ovington’s 91-2461 New York.