Mike Pollard, Devon, Pollards Pottery, mocha ware, MP mark (not Mike Pratt)

Seal on a Rock wrote:Interesting to read that these are by Mike Pratt - been hunting for some mocha ware and had a vase pop up in my Ebay recommendations that's supposed to be by 'Mike Pollard' and comes complete with an 'original information label' claiming that it is from 'Pollards Pottery'...  Did Mike Pratt ever sell under the name Pollard or is someone trying to make this look more of a bargain than it is?  Seems a lot of trouble to go to for £12!
Ebay listing "MOCHA WARE MIKE POLLARD DEVON STUDIO POTTERY HAND DECORATED TREE VASE 11 CM HIGH"

Seal on a Rock wrote:Did a bit more googling out of curiosity yesterday and found a boxed 'Pollard Pottery' vase in a box which is identical so I guess the name change is the correct solution.  

I was actually looking at Boscastle pottery, but I do rather like these ones too - oh dear, might have found something else to be tempted by!

NaomiM wrote:He’s returned to potting under the name Mike Pratt. I’ll see if I can get in touch and ask him.
Seems these Pollards Pottery mochaware pots are moulded in a white clay rather than thrown in a red clay. I wonder if they're 2000s pots - he stopped potting in 2008 - or by someone else. There's still the mystery why sellers say "Pollards Pottery in Devon" when Mike Pratt was based in Leics. It's also possible that the original attribution on the old Ceramike website was based on the similarities in the mochaware designs between Mike Pratt's and Mike Pollard's pottery

NaomiM wrote:Just found a tankard on ebay in the same moulded mochaware as the 'Mike Pollard, Pollards Pottery' pots and with Mike Pratt's MP stamp
see "Vintage Mike Pollard Pottery Large Tankard Perfect"

NaomiM wrote:I've had a reply from Mike Pratt:

Hi Naomi, thanks for your message. I've looked at the page and it has made me laugh! To put the record straight, I am NOT Mike Pollard, but Mike Pratt. Amazingly, we both have the same MP stamp, which I have been using since I started pottery in the mid seventies. It was a Christmas present from an aunt some years prior to that which I thought I would never had reason to use. I was delighted to see a photo by someone who collected my little pots. I'm back making more little pots after a gap of 14 years, along with one or two models for which I was well-known. (attached is a picture of me holding my model of the Loughborough Corillon and below a small collection of my recent pots).
Best wishes,
Mike

He added:

I would like to point out, however, that I don't make mocha ware. Here was I thinking that I was the only person to use this MP stamp and I still have the original box which contains a small bottle of ink with ink pad. It seemed a rather useless Christmas present at the time!