Moorcroft Pottery Furniture

William Moorcroft (1872–1945), the founder of the celebrated British art-pottery company that shares his last name, was both an aesthete and a technical innovator. Along with William de Morgan, he is regarded as one of the greatest ceramists of the Arts and Crafts movement, yet Moorcroft’s singular style is heavily inflected with the lush naturalism of the Art Nouveau school of art and design.

The son of a decorative pottery painter, Moorcroft was born in Staffordshire, the center of English ceramics-making, studied at the Wedgwood Institute and in 1897 joined the local pottery manufacturer James Macintyre & Co. as a designer. After a year, he was put in charge of the company’s art-pottery studio, and there he developed a new style of wares named “Florian,” made with a technique called tube-lining, or slip-trailing. In this method, decorative motifs are outlined with a thin, raised border produced by piping a thread of clay onto the body of a vessel — much like squeezing toothpaste from a tube.

Moorcroft, who took the unusual step of signing his ceramics, would go on to win numerous international awards. In 1913, backed by the London department store Liberty & Co., he left Macintyre to open his own workshop. Queen Mary, wife of King George V, gave Moorcroft her Royal Warrant in 1928. Shortly before he died in 1945, his son, Walter Moorcroft (1917–2002), took over as head of the firm. The pottery company is still in business in Staffordshire, with a design department headed by Rachel Bishop.

William Moorcroft’s ceramics are noted for their colorful, ebullient (and often slightly surreal) decorations depicting stylized natural forms — flowers, toadstools, fruit (pomegranate is a favorite among collectors), insects and landscapes. Most Moorcroft wares are finished with a glossy overglaze. Blue-and-white and pastel shades were generally used as underglazes on early Moorcroft pieces, and he later developed a rich, ruddy background glaze he called “flambé.”

Moorcroft art pottery has a rich, warm and inviting look — a comforting aesthetic that explains their enduring appeal.

Find antique and vintage Moorcroft pottery, vases, serveware and more on 1stDibs.

Moorcroft Pottery furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Moorcroft Pottery furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of ceramic and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Moorcroft Pottery furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 43 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 1 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Moorcroft Pottery were created in the Arts and Crafts style in united kingdom during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by William Moorcroft, Archibald Knox, and William Hair Haseler. Prices for Moorcroft Pottery furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $186 and can go as high as $6,885, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $940.