Troika Pottery is a really something. It was initially met with great scepticism when it was first established in the Cornish coastal town of St. Ives. The failure for the new venture was immediately predicted, giving it just three months to survive. The company’s unconventional ceramics, which design was opposite the fashion of the time have a things to think about, but concerns were proved unfounded when Troika was snapped up by discerning London stores such as Heal’s and Liberty’s, and became world-known.
The company was founded in 1963 by sculptor
Leslie Illsley, potter
Benny Sirota and architect
Jan Thompson, who chose the Russian name ‘troika’ to represent the team of three. Despite initial successes, Thompson walked away from the enterprise after two years, leaving the other two to build the business.
