Susie Cooper OBE RDI D.Litt 1902-1995
From the Website at The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery - Stoke-on-Trent, we learn that Susie Cooper was the youngest of seven children. She was born near Burslem, noted for its pottery factories, and she began her art education attending the Burslem School of Art on a scholarship. She wished to go on to the Royal College of Art, but a requirement was that she be employed in an art-related industry.
So, in 1922, to fulfill that requirement, she went to work for A.E. Gray & Co., Ltd., a local pottery. This "brief" stay became her lifelong work, spanning over 60 years. Her work at A.E. Gray was immediately recognized for its freshness and spirited innovation. She was given the title of Designer, and a backstamp with her name was created. Quite a feat for a 19-year-old girl! Gray's was a firm which purchased whiteware from other manufacturers, and then added the decoration. Susie felt this limited her ideas, and in 1929, on October 29 (her birthday) she broke away to start her own business. Disaster struck almost immediately when the landlord went bankrupt. Nonetheless, her work was a hit at the British Industries Fair of 1931, and she was offered space at the Crown Works in Burslem. She was given the opportunity to design both shapes and patterns, which suited her perfectly.
Successful marketing led to the catchphrase "No home is complete without Susie Cooper Pottery". She won awards and accolades at exhibitions in Paris in 1925 and 1937, as well as in England. In 1940 the Royal Society of Arts awarded her the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI), a first for the field of pottery design.
All non-essential manufacturing was stopped for the Second World War. Then the Crown Works burned in 1942. Again, she started over after the war, when her husband, architect Cecil Barker, became her partner. Her designs were chosen for the Royal Pavilion at the Festival of Britain in 1951. A second fire in 1957 disrupted production for a year.
Susie Cooper turned to dinner ware and joined RH & SL Plant in 1961 to make a bone china line. In 1966 she merged with Josiah Wedgewood & Sons Ltd. Her factory in Burslem remained autonomous until 1980. In 1979 Susie Cooper was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE). She continued working in her studio in Tunstall until her retirement at 84 to the Isle of Man. She died at age 93, in 1995.
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