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For almost 50 years William Moorcroft designed every piece of pottery to emerge from the factory and oversaw every aspect of its production. Working for Macintyres between 1897 and 1912 he quickly won an international reputation for his designs, using the techniques of slip-trailing and underglaze colouring. From 1913 to 1945 he managed his own company, establishing his name as the registered Trademark. By the 1930's he had many prestigious customers throughout the world for his art pottery and examples of his designs are now widely held in museums and private collections, many commanding very high prices.

When Kingsly Enamels became Moorcroft Enamels in 1999, the back catalogue of William's patterns became available for re-interpretation in a new medium. The Moorcroft shapes have revolutionised the age old tradition of copper enamelling, while the designs, beautifully adapted in minature, have proved a revelation.

A very small number of William Moorcrofts designs are released each year as enamel pieces, making this a fascinating collecting field and an opportunity to study the history of art pottery and Moorcroft.

	BLUE POPPY This Moorcroft pattern was one of several registered as Florian Ware in the early years of the twentieth century. It was through this range that William Moorcroft gained experience of designing in raised slip and established his international reputation while working for Macintyres. His starting point was the Art Nouveau style of the period, which he developed into rich flowing patterns with a floral theme - not only poppies but also daffodils, irises, tulips etc. The poppy design dates from around 1900 and the dark pattern on a paler ground of the same colour was typical of early pieces - dark blue on light blue being a particularly popular choice. Later white and cream grounds were introduced. Enamel available: 2001/2 Shapes: 198, 95, 98, Perfume, PEX Edition: Open
	CLAREMONT This pattern was introduced in 1903 as the Toadstool design, but later called Claremont by Liberty. Initially the design was quite abstract, with various shapes loosely representing toadstools on darker grounds; typically these were olive, green and blue-grey, and were usually mottled. With Claremont, the colourists seem to have been allowed more licence to introduce variation than with perhaps any other pattern. After William set up on his own, the design became more clearly defined and less abstract, with the toadstools based on naturally occurring forms - including the introduction of the white-speckled red caps of the Fly Agaric. The pattern continued in production well into the 1930's and lent itself well to the many experiments with flambe glazes that William carried out in the early 30's. Moorcroft Enamels chose a version of Claremont typical of the late 1910's, in which the pale yellow and red caps of the toadstools contrast with a mottled blue ground that shades to mottled olive and green towards the edges of each piece. The interesting 62 shape illustrated, itself almost an inverted toadstool, was introduced in 2000 as one of theshapes for this range Enamel available: 2000/1 Shapes: 62, 95, S769, OV PT, Napkin, S &P Edition: Open
	HESPERIAN The use of the raised slip that was to become Moorcroft's hallmark style was introduced in the late 1890's by MacIntyres in their Florian Ware range. However, versions of Florian Ware made for Ostler's carried a different backstamp - Hesperian Ware. The name Hesperian derives from the Garden of Hesperides - Ostler's wanted a name of eastern origin because Moorcroft based many of his early forms and shapes on Oriental and Roman ceramics. In Greek mythology the Garden contained one of the entrances to the Underworld and was the site of the golden-apple tree, which was cared for by the Hesperides (goddesses of sunsets) and the hundred-headed drakon, Ladon. The garden was probably located in a former Greek colony near Bengazhi in northeast Libya, rediscovered in the 1940's during aerial reconnaissance by the military. By 1902 Moorcroft was confident enough in his product to try his first non-floral design of fish. These carp, swimming between water plants, have a distinctive Japanese feel. In Florian Ware the pattern was invariably in a limited choice of two colours, but in the case of Hesperian Ware and unique to it, the effect of a blue design on a white ground was enhanced by the use of a mauve lustre. This added highlights to the design and created additional colours of subtle blues, mauve and a hint of salmon pink. The pattern was used to great effect on large vases and jardinieres up to three feet tall! Enamel released: 2002 Shape: 120 Edition Size: 200 Original Retail: £233
	MADISON This was the second blue poppy design, introduced into the Florian Ware range around 1903. Whereas its predecessor by several years - Blue Poppy - was boldly decorative in an Art Noveau style, this pattern was more delicate and naturalistic, but equally striking. Improved techniques of firing had allowed the introduction of cream and white grounds with decoration in several new colours. It began a new style of design for William, whereby much more delicate floral motifs were set off against the new white or cream ground. Over the next few years roses, forget-me-nots, and tulips appeared in this fashion, starting a trend to more accurate botanical representations. This pattern was in production for more than ten years. It is also sometimes referred to as the "Anemone" pattern, perhaps because its delicacy is uncharacteristic of large poppies. Enamel Available: 2002 only Shapes: PT, PL, L769, 92, 95 Edition: Open
	NARCISSUS A limited edition of 250 made exclusively for Liberty of London to commemorate the launch of Moorcroft Enamels in 1999. The design, of white and pink narcissi on a cream ground was first used by William Moorcroft in 1908 and was adapted for the enamels medium by senior decorator Amanda Rose. The original design was part of a range of delicate floral patterns in a Japanese style. Other similar patterns were of wild roses and flowering cherry. The pale ground of the vase was washed with a lustrous glaze which Moorcroft had just developed. The shape is based on an original shape popular at the turn of the century and used extensively with Florian Ware. Enamel released: 1999 Shape: 75 Edition Size: 250 Original Retail: £295
	YELLOW POPPY The small poppy design introduced in 1903 was produced in three colour ways. The first, and most common, had blue flowers (see the Madison range). In the second, the flowers were yellow shading to blue in the centre, while the third had yellow poppies on an ochre ground. It is the latter version depicted on this limited edition enamel. The use of three colour ways demonstrated the progress Moorcroft had made in developing new colours in just a few short years. At this stage Morcroft designs were not intended to be botanically accurate. Although registered as the poppy pattern, the inspiration for the flower probably came from the popular de Caen anemones (poppy anemones or the narrow-leaved anemones), which were widely used as cut flowers. Throughout Georgian and Victorian times this flower was highly prized, especially varieties with contrasting colours between the petals and the thrum of stamens. This Mediterranean flower occurs naturally in blue, red and white forms, but plant breeders successfully created dozens of other hybrids, including one with orange petals and a yellow-green thrum, as on this design. In the 1920's William Moorcroft develped the design with larger and bolder flowers and this became known as the Big Poppy or Anemone pattern. Redrawn several times, Anemone has been in the Moorcroft catalogue almost continuously to the present day. Enamel released: 2002 Shape: 46 Edition Size: 150 Original Retail: £164