Pattern Number 8560
8560 - Silver Lustre design. two birds in silver lustre with bushes and flowers on a cream background. Silver lustre band to edge with a line of fine dots. Plates also have silver scalloping to the edge. Production date 1930. Pharoah's boat Stoke on Trent England backstamp (in use between 1933 and 1945)
This design (8560) is clearly attributed to Susie Cooper in two separate books published in 1933 and 1934. See below:
"Art and Craft of the Potter" published in 1934 by Chapman and Hall Ltd, London was written by Gordon Forsyth, Principal of the City of Stoke-on-Trent Schools of Art. He had been both a teacher and mentor to Susie Cooper both at AE Grays Pottery and at the Burslem School of Art and would have known both her and her designs almost better than anyone else. It is almost unthinkable, therefore that he would have incorrectly attributed this design to her.
The second book to attribute this design to Susie Cooper was "Design In The Home" published in 1933 by Country Life Ltd, London which was edited by Noel Carrington. On page 149, Figure 376 states: Plate in silver lustre. Designer: Susie Cooper. Made by A.E. Gray & Co. Ltd
In view of these two independent sources from the early 1930s, we can therefore be confident that Pattern 8560 was designed by Susie Cooper for Grays before she left in 1929 but was only produced as pattern by Grays a year later in 1930, shortly after she had started her own business. It is worth noting that no examples of this pattern have ever been found to have the Liner "Designed by Susie Cooper" backstamp but this is unsurprising given that Susie Cooper had left Grays the previous year.
Pattern 8560 attributed to Miss Susie Cooper in Art and Craft of the Potter, by Gordon Forsyth, published by Chapman and Hall Ltd, London 1934
Pattern 8560 attributed to Susie Cooper in Design in the Home, edited by Noel Carrington, published by Country Life Ltd, London 1933