MARVELLOUS MOORCROFT

As one of the most original British pottery brands celebrates the 150th birthday of its founding father William Moorcroft, we explore the secrets of its longevity

- JANET GLEESON

It’s my private passion and always has been,’ says ceramics expert Eric Knowles about Moorcroft, the art pottery manufactory he’s championed as non-executive director for more than two decades and admired for much longer than he cares to remember. ‘Where I grew up, people didn’t have a lot, but what they had most of was crockery. It abounded in second-hand shops, and you could buy things for very little. But Moorcroft was different. It was always held in respect. You wouldn’t throw a Moorcroft pot out because you knew it cost money. And when I became interested in Art Nouveau, it seemed leaps ahead of anything else made in this country.’

Within the history of British ceramics, Moorcroft stands out as a rare survivor. Not only does it still hand-make pots in Stoke-on-Trent as it has since the Arts and Crafts period, it’s also one of the very few potteries to have remained in independent ownership. ‘When we say Made in England we really do mean it,’ says Elise Adams, Moorcroft’s proud MD. ‘People can come and visit our original factory and see each stage of the production process.’

The factory’s founder, a Staffordshire potter named William Moorcroft, was born in 1872, and trained at what is now the Royal College of Art in London before returning to Stoke in 1897 to join the manufactory of Macintyre & Co as a designer. Young and brimming with ideas, William Moorcroft was soon installed in Macintyre’s art pottery studio, where he began by producing pieces influenced by William Morris, before developing a range that combined classical shapes with the latest Art Nouveau naturalism.

Christened ‘Florian Ware’, these pots featured tube lining; a distinctive decorative method where the design was drawn onto a pot like icing a cake, and colour applied between the lines.