Tops among these is Moorcroft Pottery, relatively unknown on both sides of the Atlantic until about 20 years ago, when the Victoria and Albert Museum in London presented an exhibit of this extraordinarily artful ware.
When William Moorcroft (1872-1945) received his Art Master’s Certificate from the South Kensington School of Art in London (founded by Prince Albert), he went to work at the James MacIntyre pottery works in Burslem, Staffordshire.
He became director of MacIntyre’s art department and won several awards for his designs, including a gold medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in St. Louis in 1904.
In 1913 MacIntyre closed its art department to concentrate on the new, burgeoning market for ceramic electrical insulators.
That year Moorcroft opened his own art pottery business in Burslem, producing some of the wares he designed for his former employer, including a popular line called “Florian,” colorful, Art Nouveau-style ceramics featuring cornflowers, violets, tulips, poppies and other flowers.
Other lines produced by Moorcroft over the years include: “Spanish,” stylized orange-red flowers on a yellow background; “Aurelian,” featuring gold luster decoration; and “Flamminian,” a bright red glaze, just to name a few.
Moorcroft remained faithful to the fluid, organic and theatrical designs of the Art Nouveau style even after the introduction in 1925 of the more geometric Art Deco style, which he characterized in a letter to the Times of London as those “bad new designs.”
Moorcroft passed the business on to his older son Walter (1937) and his younger son William John (1962). The company is still in business today and remains in the family.
Collectors prefer pieces made during William Moorcroft’s lifetime (pre-1945), and are particularly happy to find pieces signed by him, indicating he had a direct hand in their making.
Prices have been soaring for all Moorcroft wares, however, ranging from $450 to $4,500, with many interesting pieces still in the $500 to $1,500 range.
You can also find good bargains in other British pottery that haven’t been as well publicized as Moorcroft to collectors in this country. Some names to look for include: Charlotte Rhead, Bernard Moore, Denby, Bretby, Radford, Royal Stanley, Poole and Honiton.
For a wonderful overview of modern British pottery, check out John Bartlett’s British Ceramic Art: 1870-1940 (Schiffer).
—Arthur Schwerdt, a certified appraiser, is the author of “The Antique Story Book: Finding the Real Value of Old Things,” and co-owner of the August Farmhouse Antiques on Route 9 in Swainton.
