Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
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.
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain
Early 2000s English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Pottery
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Early 2000s English Arts and Crafts Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic
2010s Italian Bauhaus Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Clay, Majolica
21st Century and Contemporary Polish Organic Modern Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century British Arts and Crafts Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Murano Glass
2010s American Modern Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain
Late 20th Century Spanish Modern Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Porcelain
20th Century Hungarian Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Gold
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Centerpieces
Ceramic, Porcelain