9. 1924–25: Recognition of the Artist Potter

This chapter explores the development of Moorcroft’s work against the background of two major international exhibitions: the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, and the Exposition des arts décoratifs et industriels in Paris the following year. His high-profile involvement in the Wembley exhibition, epitomised in his magnificent stand designed by Edward Maufe, was one of the landmarks of his career. His display enhanced his reputation as a ceramic artist, culminating in an article published in the Daily Graphic entitled ‘A Potter of Genius’. Surviving reports written to Moorcroft three or four times a week by his two assistants record the impact made by his ware on the many visitors to the stand, from celebrities to ordinary members of the public. Such was Moorcroft’s status as one of the country’s most innovative potters that he was put under considerable pressure by the Board of Trade to exhibit at the Paris Exhibition. This event would become a focus for extensive reflection about the need to modernise British industrial design. While some argued for the aesthetic and economic benefits of following more closely the European and Scandinavian styles in evidence at the Paris Exhibition, Moorcroft did not. He set out his position in a letter to The Times, arguing for design primarily as a mode of self-expression, not of commercial expediency. For all that his work did not follow the trends of ‘modern’ style, it was nevertheless awarded a Gold Medal at the Exhibition. These are the years of Moorcroft’s greatest commercial success, but this was not the basis of his reputation. He was admired for his distinctive, expressive art, described in one review as ‘cogent and articulate’.