About Susie Cooper
Susie Cooper (1902-1995) was a much respected ceramic designer who was well known for the flowing simplicity of her patterns and the ground breaking modern shapes. Her lifelong work in the Pottery industry, based around Stoke on Trent, meant that over the years her work was constantly changing. She was a keen business woman and adjusted her designs accordingly, always willing to experiment with new techniques and materials.
Susie Cooper initially worked from 1922 to 1929 at A E Gray, first as a paintress and then as a designer. It is difficult to know for sure which of the pieces from this period can be attributed to Susie Cooper, although we can be sure that any pattern bearing her "Liner" backstamp with the words "Designed by Susie Cooper" is definitely hers. The situation is complicated by the fact that several different backstamps were used for the same pattern so the fact that a piece does not have the words "Designed by Susie Cooper" does not necessarily mean the pattern is not her design. During this period she was also responsible for several of the early "Gloria Lustre" designs but these usually bear their own "Gloria Lustre" backstamp and it is now impossible to know which of these were her own designs.
At the time of her departure in 1929, evidence would suggest that the pattern numbers had reached about 8470 as there seem to be no items with pattern numbers higher than 8470 that carry the "Designed By Susie Cooper" mark. It is however possible that Susie Cooper had to leave a number of designed patterns that were contractually the property of Grays pottery and these would have gone into production after she left. Two patterns "Summertime" (8586) and "Persian Bird" (8554) have both been claimed by different authors to have been the last pattern she designed at Grays. Whilst there are many examples of both these patterns surviving, to my knowledge no item in either pattern has ever had a "Designed by Susie Cooper" backstamp (although Summertime items often have the liner backstamp with the words "Designed by Susie Cooper" removed). This may indicate that the company did not wish to advertise the fact that these designs were the product of someone who was now running her own rival business!
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In 1933, four years after she had left, Grays Pottery moved from Hanley to Stoke on Trent. When the number system had reached 9999, a new set of pattern numbers were begun prefixed by the letter A. We can be certain that none of these prefixed pattern numbers are hers although some of her older designs continued to be produced by the new Stoke on Trent factory so that many pieces have a Grays Stoke on Trent backstamp with an earlier Susie Cooper design pattern number.
In 1929 Susie moved from Grays to start her own business “Susie Cooper Pottery”. She started by renting rooms in the George Street Pottery in Tunstall with six other paintresses to decorate pots. The enterprise only lasted three weeks when her landlord was declared bankrupt and she suddenly had to find new premises. Only one firing took place during this time and items from this firing with the "Tunstall" backstamp are extremely rare and sought-after by collectors. Undaunted, she moved her business first to the Chelsea works in 1930 and then from 1931, to the Crown Works in Burslem. Her work grew in demand, and “wedding ring” banding with hand painted or lithographed floral motifs were easily recognised by her distinctive leaping deer backstamp. The distinctive “Kestrel” shape was designed in this period. She married Cecil Barker, an architect, in 1938, and had one son, Timothy, remaining happily married until Cecil’s death in 1972.
The Second World War made production difficult and the Crown Works factory was closed from 1942-5 following a fire. After the war Susie experimented with aerographing and sgraffito decoration, moving away from bright colours as the public no longer wanted those kind of wares. From 1950 she was able to make bone china and set about making affordable bone china dinnerware. Her most famous shape from this period is the “quail” shape which has a timeless quality about it.
In 1966 Susie merged with the Wedgwood group. They continued some of her designs and shapes, using her name on the pieces. Famous styles from this period include “Cornpoppy” and “Glen Mist”. In 1972 her husband died and Susie resigned as a director. She continued designing within the Wedgwood company until 1979 when she worked at Adams and sons. She moved to the Isle of Man in 1986 to be with her family and died in July 1995.
I highly recommend reading “Susie Cooper. A Pioneer of Modern Design” by Andrew Casey and Ann Eatwell published by the Antique Collectors Club if you wish to know more about this remarkable woman.