Pattern No: A8565

This pattern is an example of what became a regular practice for Gray’s Pottery patterns from the mid-1940s and through the 1950s: the addition of a suffix to the pattern number to indicate a different ‘colourway’ of the design.
Many examples of A8565 in pink/purple splashed lustre are marked A8565/1, as is the left-hand Castle jug in the fourth image. The right-hand jug, in green splashed lustre, is marked with an Old Castle backstamp and pattern number A8565/3. The two plates in the last image also have Old Castle backstamps.
See the website section Retailers, North America – USA, Skinners for more information on Castle jugs.

Many of the pots recorded have been in North America, undoubtedly a reflection of the influence of the British government’s introduction of regulations concerning decorated pottery during the Second World War: the manufacture of decorated pots for the Home market was largely forbidden in order to encourage and develop export sales.