Vase, 'Eventide'

This vase is a good example of late Arts and Crafts style ceramics by a leading English pottery, W. Moorcroft (Ltd). The pottery was named after its founder and chief designer, William Moorcroft (1872-1945).

A favourite pattern
Like many ceramic manufacturers, Moorcroft gave names to his various patterns. This landscape pattern - which features stylised trees, low rounded hills, and a dramatic sky - is called 'Hazledene'. The pattern was originally registered in 1902 by another Staffordshire pottery, James MacIntyre Co, where Moorcroft worked from 1898 to 1913 as head of the Art Pottery Department. He obviously liked the pattern because he took it with him when he established his own pottery, W. Moorcroft (Ltd), in Burslem, Staffordshire, England in 1913.

Different colourings
Moorcroft created three different colourings for this pattern. This vase, with its rich autumnal colours, is a version known as 'Eventide'. Another, in deep blue and green, was known as 'Moonlit Blue'. The third, a blue and white salt-glazed version, was described as 'Dawn'.

This vase was made during the 1920s at the height of production of the 'Hazledene' pattern by W. Moorcroft (Ltd).

The Walter Cook Collection
This particular vase is from the Walter C Cook Collection of Decorative Arts. Over a twenty-five year period, Wellington collector Walter Cook developed a significant collection of British and European decorative arts. In 1993 he gave his collection to the National Museum, now known as Te Papa.