Today, the Moorcroft Design Studio comprises five world-class ceramic designers who have moved design forward to the centre of the international stage in the theatre of the applied arts. Many hundreds of designs have been created and developed since their arrival, adding a powerful impetus to the evolution of design at Moorcroft.
Moorcroft Pottery is still loyal to its founder, and is still made in England at W Moorcroft Ltd, Sandbach Road, Burslem, Stoke on Trent, England.
Some of these pieces of Art in Pottery take the form of Limited Edition, Numbered Edition, Prestige or General Giftware. There are even country specific exclusives – including revered and highly collectable Australian or New Zealand Exclusive designs.
Moorcroft Designers include (apologies if we have missed one):
Sally Tuffin
Rachel Bishop FSRA
Shirley Hayes
Angela Davenport
Nicola Slaney
Emma Bossons
Beverley Wilkes
Philip Gibson
Trevor Critchlow
Vicky Lovatt
Alicia Amison
Paul Hilditch
Helen Dale
If you are interested in learning about the development of modern Moorcroft, Artist signatures, year cyphers, impressed marks and understanding base stamps - these books currently in stock are essential reading for the Moorcroft Collector and Connoiseur:
Moorcroft 1897 - 1993 New Edition | Paul Atterbury - see it here
Moorcroft | A New Dawn | Fraser Street - see it here
Moorcroft | The Pheonix Years | Fraser Street - see it here
Moorcroft | The Winds of Change | Fraser Street - see it here
Roundabout Antiques, is an Accredited Moorcroft Retailer of new and contemporary Moorcroft Pottery including Limited and Numbered Editions, Prestige, General Giftware, Exclusive Trial pieces and Australian and New Zealand Exclusive designs. We regularly host Moorcroft National tours with company representatives and artists for collectors to attend.
Collectors can shop in confidence at Roundabout Antiques, in that each piece of contemporary Moorcroft we sell is a first quality item, guaranteed free from damage and repair and comes complete with Moorcroft original factory boxing. We safely and securely ship to all states of Australia and throughout the world.
Roundabout Antiques is also unique in that we have a very large selection (some say Australia’s largest) of both old antique Moorcroft Pottery by William and Walter Moorcroft, together with long discontinued modern Moorcroft that we have sourced from collectors.
Scotland has a long tradition of Millefiori and Lampwork paperweight making, greatly influenced by the Ysart family. Salvador, the father and three of his sons founded Ysart Glass, later to become Vasart Glass and then Strathearn Glass. The most famous paperweight maker of the Ysart family, Paul, went his own way making paperweights at Moncrieff, Caithness Glass, and his own company at Harland in a career that spanned more nearly 60 years.
John Deacons started glassmaking in 1967 when he was apprenticed to Strathearn Glass. He recalls that it was a good place to work, with new facilities and a large company employer. However, less than a year later, Stuart Drysdale, the general manager of Strathearn, offered John the chance to join him, Jack Allan, Peter McDougall, and others from Strathearn in a new venture, Perthshire Paperweights, which would specialise in high-quality paperweights. John leapt at the chance and described his time at Perthshire Paperweights as "the best apprenticeship you can imagine". He was involved in every stage of setting up the factory and later became their master glassmaker.
After 10 years at Perthshire Paperweights, John felt the need to get out of the factory environment so that he could express himself, have the freedom to experiment and to take his ideas into paperweight designs. After a long search, he found suitable premises and a year later left Perthshire Paperweights to set up his own studio about 1 mile away from Perthshire paperweights. He called the studio J Glass after the 'J' cane found in some antique Bohemian paperweights that were a great source of inspiration for John.
Allan Scott, the lampworker, joined John shortly afterward and together they explored what could be achieved in paperweights. J Glass was highly successful and expanded rapidly until the economic crash in 1980 which forced its closure. However John was not to be defeated and within 6 months he had converted the cow byre attached to his house into a small studio, built a furnace, glory hole, reused the kiln salvaged from J Glass and was back in business.
This time however, he vowed never to have employees and to keep overheads to an absolute minimum, a strategy that John has never wavered from. In fact, today, he still uses the kiln that came from J glass!
This strategy means that Deacons Glass has always been noted for providing value for money Millefiori and Lampwork products as well as being able to meet special customer requirements at short notice. Being a small studio, and not driven by long production runs of a particular design, means that innovation is the key. John is always happy to make paperweights to a customer's own design and over the years many hundreds of different designs have been made. Whilst paperweights have been and will remain the main output, John and Craig enjoy experimenting with other art glass products such as lamps, bowls, blasting and engraving and other containers.
At an early age John's son Craig showed an interest in glass and he was soon helping his father in the studio. Once he had left school, Craig joined his father full time and is now responsible for many aspects of the business. John's wife Ann, makes the patterns/moulds, so it's a close knit family business.
As to the future, Craig's daughter Erica is already setting up millefiori weights so the outlook for Deacons Glass looks set for the long term.
]]>The firm Hennell Ltd is a long-lasting family business of silversmiths founded in 1725 by David Hennell (1712-1785). His son Robert Hennell I (1741-1811) joined the company in partnership in 1763 and became sole owner of the business after his father’s retirement. He was soon joined by his son Samuel Hennell (1778-1837) and his nephew Robert Hennell II.
After his apprenticeship with his uncle and the engraver John Houle he gained his freedom in 1785 and started working mainly as an engraver. In 1808 he entered his first mark on his own, becoming soon one of the most prolific silversmiths of the Regency period. The firm - based from 1817 at 3 Lancaster Court, Strand - specialised in domestic silver, salts, cruets, tea and coffee sets often delicately engraved or finely pierced.
After Robert’s retirement in 1833 his sons took over the business.
The firm is still running in London Bond Street with the name Frazer & Haws and Hennells.
]]>Mackintosh worked with Honeyman & Keppie’s architectural practice where he started his first major architectural project, the Glasgow Herald Building in 1895. In 1904, after completing several successful building designs, Mackintosh became a partner and the company became Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh.
Mackintosh lived most of his life in the city of Glasgow, where he became known as the ‘pioneer’ of the Modernist movement. However, his designs were far removed from the bleak utilitarianism of Modernism. Mackintosh took his inspiration from his Scottish upbringing and blended this with the flourish of Art Nouveau and the simplicity of Japanese forms.
While working in architecture Mackintosh developed his own style: a contrast between strong right angles and floral inspired decorative motifs with subtle curves, such as the Mackintosh Rose motif. The project that helped make his international reputation was the Glasgow School of Art (1896–1909). While Mackintosh’s architectural career was a relatively short one, from 1895 to 1906, it had a significant impact on the world.
Later in life Mackintosh worked largely as a watercolourist, painting numerous landscapes and flower studies. He moved to the Suffolk village of Walberswick in 1914, then to Chelsea in 1915, followed by Port-Vendres in France in 1923.
Mackintosh’s designs have gained in popularity in recent decades. His House for an Art Lover was built in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park in 1996, and the University of Glasgow rebuilt the interior of a terraced house Mackintosh had designed, and furnished it with his work (it is part of the university’s Hunterian Museum). The revival of public interest has led to the refurbishment and opening of more buildings to the public, such as the Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow.
Mackintosh’s prolific career has inspired Moorcroft’s designers for many years, and in his 150th anniversary year, the members of the Moorcroft Design Studio have worked together to create a collection to celebrate this great man’s life and work, including a trio of designs inspired by 78 Derngate in Northampton, the only English home he designed. Pictured above is the 2019 Moorcroft Kingsborough Gardens 102/7 Numbered Edition vase - designed by Emma Bossons and part of the 150th Anniversary collection.
Flambe (pronounced flom-bay, not flam-bee) is a French term used to describe the ancient Chinese high temperature glazes with a red colour. The effect results from a particular method of firing a glaze that involves varying the amount of oxygen in a kiln at certain stages of firing while adding copper oxide and other substances; and it is thought that the method was first discovered by the Chinese of the Ming dynasty, probably during the reign of Wan-li (1573-1620).
Flambe, in effect, is what is known as a transmutation glaze.
At the turn of the 20th century Royal Doulton Art Director, John Slater, and Charles J. Noke set about to re-create the mystery of Flambe glazes for Royal Doulton. By 1900 only a few pieces were successfully produced by Royal Doulton, as the firm struggled to consistently produce the desired effect. An enormous amount of money was invested in the production and development of the new Royal Doulton Flambe wares and very few items were produced with any degree of consistency.
In about 1902 Cuthbert Bailey, a ceramic chemist, and Bernard Moore, a young and talented potter joined the Royal Doulton team. This team of men were financially supported by the Royal Doulton firm to produce these Flambe glazes, and special kilns were built and numerous experimental compositions conducted. Moore, a young (and now infamous) Staffordshire potter, had already achieved success with unusual, experimental type glazes and was the first Englishman to successfully produce the Flambe glaze.
Henry Doulton encouraged, and financially supported numerous experiments by these 4 men, (John Slater, Charles J. Noke, Cuthbert Bailey and Bernard Moore), and the Flambe glaze. Success in creating the glaze was achieved and the wares first shown at the 1904 St Louis Exposition.
Royal Doulton Flambe received esteemed praise and an unprecedented 30 awards at St Louis. The Flambe glaze had arrived, and to this day captures the hearts and minds of collectors everywhere.
History shows that Bailey left Doulton in about 1907, and Noke took over the responsibility for further development and research of the transmutation glazes. Noke's objective was to broaden the Flambe range of colours and textures and control some of the veined effects seen in earlier flambe items.
One of Noke’s greatest achievements (and now a highly collectable branch of Flambe) was the development of the Sung Flambe wares, first seen in 1919. Sung wares are typified by bright yellows, purples, orange, blue, peacock feather colouring and black beneath the rich Flambe glaze.
The catalyst for the development of Sung glazes came from the early Flambe experiments, these additional colours had appeared during firing and the Sung range was created around these colourful “mistakes”. The premier artists from the Doulton factory, Harry Nixon, Arthur Eaton and Fred Moore hand painted Sung items with fishes in underwater scenes, mythical images of fire breathing dragons, snakes striking at birds but to name a few.
In 1925, the Royal Doulton creative team comprising Charles J. Noke, together with his son, Cecil and Harry Nixon developed another remarkable (and now rare and highly prized) art pottery product called Chang ware. This product was given it’s name after the ancient Chinese Potter, Chang the Elder. Chang wares have a glaze which flows like lava, which is allowed to run and crackle down the piece offering numerous colourful effects in rare cases. Generally Chang is seen in the reds, oranges and browns, but in rare occasions greens and blues can be seen.
As the late 1930’s saw a change in the buying tastes of the collecting public (and no doubt the influence of the Great Depression and ensuing World War that followed) – Chang was discontinued prior to the Second War when restrictions on the production of decorative china saw the product discontinued.
Today, Royal Doulton’s great experiment, that of Flambe and other transmutation glazes like Chang, are admired, collected and appreciated throughout the collecting world. The variances in colour and uniqueness continues to capture the hearts and minds of collectors, new and old.
This article was written by us and first published in Antiques and Collectables for Pleasure and Profit magazine some years ago.
Painters at the works were paid piecemeal, for example the more they produced the more they earned, but Richard Sebright was so painstaking in his work, so determined that each piece he did would be the best that he could produce, that he was never able to work fast enough to earn as much as many of the others did.
He refused to cut corners in his work. It is said that he was a very religious man who never married. His religion and work were all that mattered to him and the level of his earnings was considered to be of only minor importance.
He was considered to be the best living painter of fruit by his fellow fruit painters.
]]>In 1896, Harry began work at the Worcester factory and studied under his father. He learned to produce the same highland cattle scenes, although he guided his palette more to the purples and autumnal tints to differentiate them from his fathers work.
He appears to have benefited from the experience, as he grew into an imposing figure that many people likened to his father and to the Highland cattle that they both painted.
A great exhibitor Harry won several medals from the National Art School and went on to become a greatly respected water-colourist.
He won several awards for his pictures; which covered many pastoral scenes of sheep, gamebirds and plain landscapes as well as his highland cattle scenes. Harry Stinton is regarded as one of the finest artists of the twentieth century. Harry retired in 1963 after 67 years at the Royal Worcester factory and he died in 1968.
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