Moorcroft Pottery (England) cruets & condiments

A cruet also known as a caster, is a small container to hold condiments such as oil, vinegar, mustard, pepper. Its shape and adornments will depend on the specific condiment for which it is designed. For example a cruet for liquids may have a jug-like shape, while a cruet for a spice may be cylindrical with a lid and perhaps a small spoon for serving.

Cruets were made in silver, silver plate, ceramic and glass, and sometimes a combination of two materials, usually as a glass body with a silver or silver plated top.

The earliest cruets, from the more... beginning of the 18th century were known as "Warwick cruets" after a cruet set made by Anthony Nelme in 1715 for the Duke of Warwick, and include three elaborately decorated and shaped matching silver casters, usually with one unpierced, which held powdered mustard, and the other two for oil and vinegar, combined in a stand with a handle enabling it to be passed between dinner guests.

In the Victorian era with more elaborate dining settings, the number of condiments used during a meal increased, as did the number of containers in the cruet set, and some cruet sets contained up to six or eight containers, either arranged tw-by-two, or in a circular container. Glass bottles replaced the silver containers of the earlier era and the holders became simpler, sometimes being a metal frame attached to the base.

Completeness and originality is important when purchasing a cruet set, and missing containers, replaced containers and missing or chipped stoppers will depreciate the value of a cruet set.

Another type of cruet set is an egg cruet, typically consisting of four to eight egg cups in a stand, often with a spoon for each egg cup. These were mainly made in silver or silver plate, and occasionally ceramic. The egg cups may fit in rings, or over a stud on the base of the stand. Sometimes the interiors of the egg cups are gilded to prevent corrosion. The stands are either solid, or a framework with a handle. less...

William Moorcroft was employed by Staffordshire pottery manufacturers James Macintyre & Co. Ltd. as a designer in 1897, and after a year he was responsible for the company's art pottery studio.

William Moorcroft created designs for the Macintyre's Aurelian Ware range of high-Victorian pottery, which had transfer-printed and enamelled decoration in bold red, blue and gold colours. He also developed the art nouveau-influenced Florian Ware which was decorated entirely by hand, with the design outlined in trailed slip using a technique known as tubelining. William Moorcroft's designs won him a gold medal at the St. more... Louis International Exhibition in 1904.

Each piece of pottery produced was personalised with Moorcroft's own signature or initials.

William Moorcroft and James Macintyre & Co. Ltd. split up in 1913 and Moorcroft founded his own factory nearby. Some finance came from the famous London store Liberty, and Liberty continued to exercise control over Moorcroft until 1962.

Moorcroft's reputation was further enhanced with the appointment of the Moorcroft company as Potter to HM The Queen in 1928.

On the death of William Moorcroft in 1945, his elder son, Walter, took over management and design and he continued in this position until his retirement in 1987, after which he continued contributing to Moorcroft designs.

During the tenure of Walter Moorcroft, the Liberty store's interest in Moorcroft was purchased by Moorcroft in 1962.

In the 1980s Moorcroft got into financial difficulties as a result of rising wages and fuel, which were exacerbated by the labour intensive techniques employed by Moorcroft and the company went through several changes in ownership with the result that from 1993 the company was controlled by the Edwards family, which is still the case.

The young 24 year old designer Rachel Bishop joined Moorcroft in 1993, as only its fourth designer in almost a hundred years and her designs become immediately popular. In 1997 the Moorcroft Design Studio was formed with eight designers, and with Rachel Bishop as head designer.

Moorcroft celebrated its centenary in 1997, marking the year that William Moorcroft joined MacIntyre as its founding date, rather than the year the company was founded.

Moorcroft is still producing art pottery in its own distinctive design style, and with astute promotion and limited edition designs including Australian flora and flora, is selling more than it did in the mid-1920’s, its previous heyday. less...