Susie Cooper was a prolific English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

 designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

 pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

 industries from the 1920s to the 1980s.

Life and work

Born in Stanfields, Stoke-on-Trent, she was the youngest of seven children. From an early age she developed an interest in drawing, and began her art education by attending night classes at the Burslem School of Art

Burslem School of Art

Burslem School of Art was an art school in Burslem in the Potteries district of England. Students from the school played an important role in the local pottery industry....

. In 1922 she joined the ceramics firm A.E. Gray & Co. Ltd, partially as a means to gain entry to the Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

.

A. Edward Gray quickly discovered her talents as a painter and designer, and soon enough Susie was producing her hand-painted floral designs. In 1923 A.E. Gray launched the Gloria Lustre Range employing the technique of lustreware. In 1929, motivated by her desire to design ceramic shapes in addition to decors, she broke away with her brother-in-law Albert "Jack" Beeson to set up her own business, as Susie Cooper Potteries.

Susie worked for many other pottery firms over the next several decades, including Wedgwood

Wedgwood

Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...

. In 1940 she was awarded the Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts

Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...

, and in 1979 she received an OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

. By all accounts Elizabeth, The Queen Mother

Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon

Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...

 was an admirer of her work.

At the age of 80 she retired to live on the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

, where she died in 1995. Like other Potteries

Potteries

Potteries may refer to:* Pottery, or pottery manufacturing* The Stoke-on-Trent area, known as the Staffordshire Potteries after its once-important ceramics industry...

 based ceramic designers such as Clarice Cliff

Clarice Cliff

Clarice Cliff was an English ceramic industrial artist active from 1922 to 1963.Cliff was born in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England.- Early life :...

 and Charlotte Rhead

Charlotte Rhead

Charlotte Rhead was an English ceramics designer active in the 1920s and the 1930s in the Potteries area of Staffordshire.Charlotte Rhead was born into an artistic family...

, her work has become highly sought after and valued by pottery collectors.

External links

• Susie Cooper Information Site biography, factory history, pottery marks.
• BBC Radio Stoke Local Heroes
• Stoke-on-Trent Museums See Susie Cooper's designs plus the World's Finest Collection of Staffordshire Ceramics.
• Pots designed by Susie Cooper to explore online
• Gray's pottery website Resource website for Gray's Pottery
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/articles/2006/04/13/local_heroes_susie_cooper_01_feature.shtml