Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
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.
1920s English Art Deco Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Earthenware
Mid-20th Century British Arts and Crafts Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Ceramic
2010s English Modern Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Pottery
Early 20th Century English Art Deco Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Pottery
Early 2000s British Art Nouveau Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Ceramic
Early 20th Century American Art Nouveau Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Art Glass
Late 20th Century Moroccan Moorish Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Metal
20th Century American Modern Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Ceramic
Early 20th Century British Arts and Crafts Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Earthenware
Mid-19th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Antique Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Faience
Early 2000s English Art Nouveau Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Pottery
1920s English Arts and Crafts Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Earthenware
20th Century English Modern Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Art Deco Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary American Moorcroft Pottery Bowls and Baskets
Ceramic