History of Moorcroft Pottery

In the Beginning

• Moorcroft Pottery initiated its journey in 1897 when William Moorcroft was hired by James Macintyre &Co., Ltd., also located in Staffordshire, as its newest designer. Within a year, Moorcroft was running the company's design studio. By the early 1900s he began winning awards with his work. His first award came in the form of a gold medal awarded at the St. Louis International Exhibition. Moorcroft's work was extremely popular and drew attention away from the other products Macintyre created. By 1912, the owners of the Macintyre factory made the decision to end their relationship with William Moorcroft.

Victorian Pottery

• William Moorcroft adopted a practice that was unusual for the time in which he worked. This practice may have had much to do with the severing of his relationship with Macintyre &Co. While others may have been creating the actual pieces, he oversaw every piece and signed each one with his name or his initials. Prior to Moorcroft, most potter's worked under a studio name and their identity was usually secondary.

Designers of Moorcroft

• Immediately after leaving Macintyre, Moorcroft set up a new factory in Staffordshire. His financial support came from a department store called Liberty. A famous British establishment, Liberty was tied to a decorative mix of styles and produced fabrics and art objects that became loosely linked to the Art Nouveau and to the Aesthetic Movement. Moorcroft's style was highly decorative and even painterly at times and always eclectic and original which fit Liberty's efforts. With his subsequent placement, in 1928, as the Potter to the Queen, Moorcroft's talent gained further popularity.

Moorcroft Studios

• Moorcroft's style of pottery was always a labor intensive and costly process. Due to this, the ability to prosper seemed to evade Moorcroft pottery. The move Moorcroft Pottery made in 1962, in which it bought back Liberty's shares, didn't help Moorcroft's bottom line. By 1984, Moorcroft shares were being sold to the public. The company suffered through several changes in ownership and management until 1993 when the Edwards family took over the reins. Interestingly, until 1993 Moorcroft Pottery had only three designers. The fourth was added in 1993, just inside of one hundred years of being in business. Moorcroft Studios was born in 1997 under the tutelage of the Edwards family.

Moorcroft Today

• The value of Moorcroft pottery continues to grow. Auction sales through Christie's and Sotheby's New York and the placement of Moorcroft pottery in many private collections, as well as permanent museum collections, continues to support the history of Moorcroft. The addition of Moorcroft Studios, which houses as many as eight designers, continues Moorcroft's history into the 21st century.