'Sylvan' stoneware book-end in the form of a three-masted sailing galleon, with a mottled green glaze, designed by Harold Stabler, made by Carter, Stabler & Adams Ltd., Poole, ca. 1930.

Flat backed book-end of stoneware in the form of a three-masted sailing galleon and glazed with a mottled green glaze, and the base is decorated with moulded wave shapes.

One of a pair of book-ends CIRC.558&A-1976.

Carter, Stabler & Adams were sensitive to the demands of the fashion-conscious market and interested in experimenting with different glazes. The 'Sylvian' mottled glaze was introduced by the pottery in the early 1930s. The green of this book-end is very typical of the period. This book-end or mantlepiece ornament is a mass-produced version of an original galleon designed by the sculptor and partner of the firm Harold Stabler (1872-1945) which may have been modelled on a famous local pirate ship, the 'Harry Paye'. The galleon was frequently used as a symbol for the Carter, Stabler & Adams pottery.

In the 1930s this bookend would have added a cottagey effect in the decoration of homes in the rapidly spreading suburbs and would have evoked nostalgic images of Raleigh and Drake and Britain in its greatness as a sea-fearing nation: a symbol of freedom and life's rich passage.

Harold Stabler trained as a wood-carver and metalworker in the Arts and Crafts style. He became dissatisfied with this approach and in 1912 he became a founder memeber of the Design and Industries Association and is well-known as the designer of posters and tiles for the London Underground. He taught at the Royal College of Art from 1912 to 1926.
[Susan McCormack, 'British Design at Home', p.112]

CIRC.558-1976