Moorcroft - 100 Years of Pottery by Pam Trowels

1997 marks the 100th Anniversary of Moorcroft Pottery. Moorcroft is enjoying much renewed interest from collectors as the quality of its pottery is recognised and appreciated.

The Moorcroft tradition began in 1897 when William Moorcroft (born 1873), then working for James Macintyre & Co Ltd at Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, designed his first pieces of pottery. The James Macintyre factory was well known for its expert tube-liners and decorators which brought William's designs to the public. William Moorcroft's designs became synonymous with quality design and decoration and was bestowed its first Royal Appointment in 1927. It received a second in 1946, a year after William Moorcroft's death.

Pictured right: Phoenix Bird Vase

William's son Walter took over the pottery in the same year. Its development up to then had seen a collaboration with the famous London store Liberty which enabled a potworks to be built at Cobridge in 1913. It had also seen the boom the 1920s which saw the Moorcroft Pottery grow in prestige and reach a height in popularity which has not been again until the last few years. Much of this popularity was due to the rich flambe glaze which was developed by William and Walter Moorcroft enabling enriched and superb colours.

After the war Walter continued in the Moorcroft tradition of running the pottery. Walter's designs continued to bring the same quality of decoration and colour associated with Moorcroft, including the lily, hibiscus and magnolia designs. The post-war years were quite successful and in 1961, Walter was able to buy out the Liberty stock, so allowing the Moorcroft family to regain total control of the company once again.

The late 1960s to the early 1980s saw a change in the fortunes of Moorcroft. In 1984 a controlling interest was sold to the Roper brothers, and an attempt was made to change the nature of Moorcroft pottery to mass production. Fortunately, this was unsuccessful and the brothers sold their share in 1986 to Hugh Edwards and Richard Dennis. There was a further reshuffle in 1992 when Richard and Sally Dennis left the company.

Walter Moorcroft retired as design director in 1987, after which Sally Dennis took over the mantle. In the same year John Moorcroft the last family shareholder became Managing Director. From the late 80s there has been a dramatic turn around in the Moorcroft Pottery. Moorcroft's latest designer Rachel Bishop took over from Sally Dennis in 1993. The two ladies designs have helped re-create the Moorcroft name and its association with quality and workmanship. Rachel Bishop's designs have been especially well received, and the Moorcroft tradition looks safe in her hands.

Moorcroft have been helped by the fact that they have stuck to their quality ethic. Many collectors have recognised the unique individual way in which Moorcroft pottery is created, as against the cheap, mass production of other products. The Moorcroft revival seems set to continue.