Colours

Launch

When Twintone was launched in the 1940s, five pre-war colour combinations (with inside colour first) were used, three of which only lasted until 1950:

C50 Pink and Seagull
A delicate sugary shell Pink and the real workhorse of Twintone, Seagull, a mottled grey, like a British sky on a windy day.

C65 Magnolia and Shagreen
Magnolia is a clean, creamy parchment colour, and Shagreen (named after sharkskin leather) a rich, mottled deep turquoise.

C85 Sky and Magnolia
Sky is a clear Sky blue, like a Poole sky on a sunny day.

The two more enduring combinations, lasting as long as Twintone itself (until 1981) were:

C54 Sepia and Mushroom
Sepia (named after squid ‘ink’) is a milk chocolate brown, while Mushroom is the pale biscuity pink found on the underside of edible mushrooms.

C57 Ice Green and Seagull
Ice Green, another characteristic Twintone colour, is a pale turquoise.

1950s: Further New Glazes

As some of the old colours were discontinued, Poole brought out a new combination:

C95 Red Indian and Magnolia
Red Indian is the paintbox colour sometimes called Indian Red, a reddish brown that is a little more glossy than many Twintone glazes. It lasted until 1956.

In 1952 a new pairing was introduced of two established colours:

C96 Ice Green and Mushroom
This tended to be used more for decorative ware such as bowls and vases, but tableware in C96 certainly exists. (It continued until 1965.)

In 1953: The next new colour appeared, Peach Bloom, which was used in various combinations:

C97 Peach Bloom and Seagull
Peach Bloom is sometimes described as pink, but is more orangey or peachy, a duller colour than the pre-war Pink (It was discontinued in 1968.)

C98 Peach Bloom and Ice Green
C99 Ice Green and Peach Bloom
A garish pairing that only lasted a year, probably owing to its unpopularity.

C100 Peach Bloom and Mist Blue
Very pretty – Mist Blue is a pale greyish blue, well set off by Peach Bloom. Supposedly, this only lasted for a year too, but there is a lot of it about.

C101 Mushroom and Peach Bloom
Not very successful either: the colours are too similar and just look dull (another one-year wonder).

1956: The launch of two new glazes

C102 Lime Yellow and Moonstone Grey
Which is actually more of a lime green, with a dark slatey grey. This also was only produced for a year, but proves popular today with many collectors.

C103 Lime Yellow and Seagull
Followed in 1957 and was more in the ‘acceptable’ range and lasted until 1968.

Following swiftly on, in 1958 one of the most frequently found colour combinations appeared:

C104 Sky Blue and Dove Grey
This blue is much greener than the original Sky, and can be confused with Ice Green by new collectors. Dove Grey is paler than Moonstone Grey. This was a successful pair that, like C54 and C57, was produced until 1981.

C105 Grey Pebble
Made more interesting use of Dove Grey, by embellishing the ‘flatware’, which included lids as well as plates and saucers, with a transfer printed design of pebbles (sometimes wrongly described as coffee beans). The outsides of hollowware (pots, jugs, bowls and cups) were grey and the insides white. Pebble was introduced in 1959 and also came in:

C106 Black Pebble
Where the outsides and pebble pattern were made in Black Panther glaze. The pebble designs were continued until 1961.

C107 Sweetcorn and Brazil
An edible-looking mustard yellow and a deeper brown than Sepia, which went on until 1968.