Restraint, fitness for purpose and a careful consideration for shape and pattern are Susie Cooper hallmarks, to which this rare and complete 1930s tea set in cream and acorn green stands testament. The Susie Cooper trademark signature is on the underside of each piece, and the set includes a teapot, milk jug, sugar bowl, and two cups & saucers.

History

Susie Cooper (1902 – 95) was at the forefront of British Industrial Ceramics for over sixty years, and is now recognised as the most important and influential ceramic designer of her generation.  She revolutionised tableware in the 1930s by producing elegantly designed, functional and cost-conscious earthenwares. Cooper took her cues from the current trend for modernism.  Friend and architect Serge Chermayeff - co-designer of the 1935 modernist De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill - was one such influence. The emphasis was on functionalism, the dynamic relationship between form and colour, and the restraint that should be practiced with regard to decoration.  Few of the Staffordshire potteries found favour with this new approach.  Susie Cooper was the exception.  Her early works, such as this tea set, are now much sort after by collectors.

Material: glazed earthenware in cream and aerographed green

Manufacturer: Susie Cooper pottery, Wood & Sons Ltd, UK

Design shape: Falcon

Year of manufacture: c.1938

Teapot dimensions: Diameter 11cm  Height 13.5cm  Width from spout to handle 20cm

Condition: there is the minutest of hairline fractures to the base of one of the teacup handles, which could have happened during the firing - see image. Other than that, everything is perfect.

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