The History of Moorcroft Pottery

William Moorcroft (1872 to 1945) was born in Burslem, Staffordshire and studied art in both London and Paris. He designed his first pieces of pottery while working at the James Macintyre Company in 1897 but was highly successful after opening his own studio in 1913 in Cobridge, England. Moorcroft created pottery with an Asian feel and developed high luster glazes to create dramatic, eye catching designs. Most of his products sold through Liberty of London and Tiffany in New York. After his passing in 1945, the company passed on to his son Walter.

Walter’s vision and designs helped the company continue its long standing tradition of using brilliant colors and translucent glazes to produce some of the best quality mid-century art pottery. However, later in the 60’s the company was purchased by the Roper Brothers and they unsuccessfully tried to mass produce merchandise and failed. In 1987, Walter resigned from Moorcroft and the design duties turned to Sally Dennis and now to Rachel Bishop. Under these new designers, Moorcroft saw a resurgence in both the quality of their product and interest by collectors.