Moorcroft Pottery Red Flambé Anemone Vase C.1950s

William Moorcroft (1949-1986) Flambé Pottery Vase with the Anemone Design. 11"H (1919-1945)
In common with his contemporaries Moorcroft developed an interest in transmutation and other orientally-inspired high temperature glazes in the early 1900s. He lacked the facilities to develop his own flambé glazes at the Mactintyre factory and,during the first world war, at cobridge, but in 1919 he decided to build a special kiln for the purpose. It was not completed until 1921 but by 1922 Moorcroft was already producing his first rouge flambé glazes, and using them either without additional ornament for a plain flambé ware or as an overlay on ware that had been decorated in his usual style. During the next two decades Moorcroft became a master of the Flambé process and some of his most spectacular pieces were decorated by the means of this complex and demanding technique. He controlled the glazing and the firing of the ware himself, firing his kiln alone and carefully nursing it through the vital transmutation process unaided. By the personal control, he was able to develop the wide range of Flambé colours and finishes that were compared by experts with the sang du bouef and other monochromes of the early chinese potters. Moorcroft received many accolades for his flambé glazes and continued to experiment with the exacting process until his death in 1945. He guarded his secrets jealously, revealing them only to his son, Walter Moorcroft, who developed his own flambé ware after his father died.
Anemone was one of Williams pre-war designs and was used regularly by Walter from 1945 until 1975.
This vase is initaled WM for Walter Moorcroft and the imprinted Moorcroft made in England marks and dates c.1954
is 11" H and in very good condition.