Susie Cooper

Susie Cooper, along with the likes of Charlotte Rhead and Clarice Cliff, is regarded as one of the twentieth century’s great lady Art Deco ceramic designers. Born in 1902 in Stansfield near Burslem, Stoke on Trent in the Staffordshire Potteries, Susie Cooper (like Cliff and Rhead) attended the Burslem School of Art.

Susie began her career in 1924 at A. E. Gray & Co. as house designer, qualifying for a scholarship at the Royal College of Art in London. She worked with inventive designs such as swirls, floral patterns, banding and bold geometric pattern.

In 1929, building on her previous successes within the industry, Susie set up on her own using space at Wood & Sons Pottery mainly manufacturing earthenware products. In 1931 she relocated to the Burslem Crown Works using techniques such as lithography and sgraffito (which involves the design being scratched into the clay). There was a fire in 1942 from which the company subsequently recovered and in 1951 the factory was represented at the prestigious Festival of Britain. Susie Cooper was forced to merge with R.H. and S.L. Plant after another extensive fire then the Wedgwood factory took over in 1966. Susie Cooper sadly died in 1994 after a spell designing for Wedgwood but her works are still highly sought after and well-loved today especially the Art Deco geometric patterns.