Susie Cooper China

 

Susie Cooper China

Susie Cooper China

 one of the most

influential ceramics designers of the 20th century, had a passionate belief that good design should not cost the Earth. Her style is as fresh today as it was in the 1930s.

Born into a middle-class family in the Potteries in 1902. Susie Cooper was hardly a typical factory worker. She joined local pottery AE Gray and Co LTD to gain the experience of working in the decorative arts that she required to attend London's Royal College of Art.



 Initially Cooper was a production- line painter, but her talents were soon recognized. Instead of going to study in London, she became a designer at Gray's, working on its Gloria Lustre range, a silver-medal winner at the 1925 Paris Exhibition.

Susie Cooper China

Bands of color

Cooper was influenced by other artists, particularly Paul Cezanne and Frank Brangwyn, but her contribution to the company's style - hand-painted floral and abstract patterns with thick bands of colour - was highly personal.

Gray's used a factory mark with the words 'Designed by Susie Cooper' under a steamship — a pictorial designer mark of the type that came into vogue in the 1930s. In response to the new demand for brightly coloured wares,




 Cooper introduced geometric patterns such as 'Moon and Mountains' and the modern 'Cubist' on a large range of household wares. These daring designs became her trademark and are still favorite among collectors. But seeing these geometric designs as 'crude', she was most proud of her banding - juxtaposed thin and thick bands in muted or bright co lours.

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A rising star

Cooper left Gray's in 1929, setting up on her own in premises at the Chelsea Works, Burslem, in 1930. She painted white-ware blanks with simple banded and stylised floral patterns similar to those she had developed at Gray's, marking them 'A Susie Cooper Production'. 





Business prospered. Wood & Sons, a successful local pottery, approached Cooper with an offer to make earthenware to her own designs and provide her with a larger studio. In 1931, she moved to its Crown Works and began to mark her wares with the leaping deer mark most often associated with her work.

The early 1930s were the most dazzling years for Cooper. She was a rising star in pottery design and she also controlled the production process,

designing patterns and shapes together. Her modernist sculptural forms, such as the Kestrel and Falcon ranges, were designed to he both visually interesting and functional.

Cooper's work offered a marriage of elegance and utility. Her artistry was rooted in commercial sense as well as practicability.

Susie Cooper China

Beautifully practical

Teapots and coffee pots poured perfectly, and tureens had lids that doubled as dishes, stacking neatly to save space. Cooper extended the forms to include ashtrays, vinegar bottles, chamber pots, butter dishes.

lamp stands, and nursery ware.








 The demand for Cooper's work led her to use lithography at a time when few firms were using mechanical decoration. She worked closely with lithographic printers to create patterns that best suited both the technique and her wares. Borders remained hand painted. One of the most popular patterns was 'Dresden Spray', first used in 1935.

Modern yet timeless

Susie Cooper China

By the late 1930s, Cooper was producing up to 200 new designs a year, featuring banding, polka dots, and stylised flowers. Patterns that were both modern and timeless, such as Patricia Rose' and Endon', were key to her success, appealing to a far wider public than the work of many of her contemporaries.

In 1942 a fire destroyed Cooper's factory, but it reopened after the war. Colours became more subdued, and Cooper's Kestrel wares, and the bold patterns of early works such as 'Cubist', are likely to retain their current appeal. 

The restrained quality and detail often found on the litho­printed designs, such as 'Dresden Spray', make these later wares equally sought after, especially among Japanese collectors.