WILLIAM 150 COLLECTION

THE POTTER WHO OPENED THE DOOR TO MOORCROFT DESIGN, TECHNIQUE & ARTISTRY

One hundred and fifty years ago, one of the most gifted potters of his generation, William Moorcroft, was born. Quickly, the art potter gleaned that the consummate skills of botanical design and a passion for the natural world was not enough for his ambitions. In truth, to become an icon for the Applied Arts, success lies not simply in surface decoration and shape design, as these change with what is in vogue during each generation. Something more is always needed. A door had to be opened for generations of potters to perfect.

Whilst the emerging Art Nouveau designs of the continent inspired the young Moorcroft in terms of shape and design, it was to be in his home in the Potteries where he would perfect his ceramic alchemy, during his first job in 1897, as a designer for James Macintyre & Co. There followed the arrival of gold medals from across the Atlantic in St Louis in 1908 to Europe, including a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition in1925. In 1913 William launched a company under his own name, Moorcroft, and the company we know and love today, was firmly established.

With each piece echoing the hallmarks of William’s most renowned work, the Moorcroft Design Studio step forward to honour the founder, of what is said to be one of the greatest Arts and Crafts pottery companies today, with their WILLIAM 150 collection.

In 1898, Florian Ware was born. These were the first designs identified as Moorcroft, complete with raised tubelined outlines. Tubelining is now deemed a heritage skill that Moorcroft has perfected over the generations. Next pieces were carefully hand painted with the small handful of limited colours William Moorcroft had available to him. Undoubtedly, one of William’s most famous Florian Ware designs, was Cornflower, with good examples of this design reaching astronomical heights on the secondary market.

Bleuet bursts into life with an abundance of golden cornflowers. This design is perfected by the sheer brilliance of decoration, as vast spectres of Sicilian red oranges and grapefruit-yellow, flood the senses. With the prowess of the post-millennium Moorcroft designers, Nicola Slaney drapes tiny forget-me-knot like flowers in hues of light-grey to true-blue over the sacred cornflower, as if giving William a garland of flowers, bestowed with a kiss.

• Designer:  Nicola Slaney
• Dimensions: H 18.00 x W 16.50 x D 16.50 cm