IF you were compiling a list of premium-brand pottery manufacturers over the last 100 years or so, the name Keeling would probably not be included.

The firm was founded in Burslem, Staffordshire, in 1886, and at that time it was one of scores of similar companies all seeking to place their products in a booming late Victorian market place.

The firm produced a wide range of items, including not only dinner and tea ware, but ornamental vases and bowls. Yet it also produced hospital ware and hotel ware, plain simple durable and quite forgettable.

It may have been this association with the hospital and hotel trade that resulted in Keeling's other products being greatly under-appreciated, both at the time and since. In 1912, the company marketed a range of wares under the rather odd name of Losol. I have no idea why that particular name was chosen, but from around the time of the First World War through to the company's closure in 1936, Losol ware proved extremely popular.

The reason for this was that the firm employed a lot of innovative though largely anonymous designers, who created some extremely attractive vases, bowls and jardinieres in unusual styles, and the vast majority were delicately hand painted.

It also made a range of birds and animals, and in 1934, just a couple of years before the factory closed, it introduced another ornamental range of pottery with a leaf theme called Brantique.

Yet despite this apparently blossoming trade, the firm did flounder just before the Second World War, and closed.

Today, while much of Keeling's output is ignored, its Losol branded items are greatly sought after and keen collectors scour the antiques fairs, shops and auctions for examples.

Prices can be much higher than for comparable pieces by the firms' rivals in its heyday, and I have seen some of its larger items such as jardinieres fetching as much as £300.

Smaller pieces are frequently in the £50 to £100 price category, and there are a fair amount of them still around if you look out. The firm's name is clearly marked on the base of the items, not only Keeling & Co, but also Losol ware in a scripted form.

It's hard to pinpoint the exact appeal of these items other than they all look very attractive and are of decent quality, but then so was a lot of pottery of the period which doesn't attain such high prices.