Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
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.
Early 20th Century English Art Deco Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery
Early 20th Century English Art Deco Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery
1930s English Art Deco Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery
20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Porcelain
Early 19th Century English Folk Art Antique Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pearlware, Pottery
1970s American Post-Modern Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Earthenware
20th Century English Baroque Revival Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Gold
20th Century English Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
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Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery
1910s British Arts and Crafts Vintage Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery
2010s Italian Other Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Ceramic
20th Century American High Victorian Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Ceramic, Paint
1870s English Victorian Antique Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery
Mid-20th Century British Arts and Crafts Moorcroft Pottery Tea Sets
Pottery