Figure 34  Plate, Charles Allerton & Sons, England, ca. 1925. Whiteware. D. 5 3/4". Mark: “A” within a wreath. It is possible that the term Thorley ware, which appears as part of the Allerton mark on this plate, does not refer to Palin Thorley, as the design is less sophisticated than ones usually attributed to him. The mark (see fig. 35) is said to have been used beginning ca. 1929; Thorley left Allerton in 1927. It is possible that the mark was used earlier than recorded. As the only non-family member on the board, Palin Thorley clearly was important to the Allerton pottery. Moreover, it is unlikely that another potter named Thorley would have had ware named for him, particularly so soon after Palin left. Palin’s younger brother Noel is perhaps a possibility, although whether he worked at Allerton is not known. According to a November 1951 article in the Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review, in about 1945 Noel opened a pottery in which he was a “small fancyware potter.”