Emma Bossons

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Emma Bossons is a ceramic artist and designer for Moorcroft Pottery.

Born in Congleton, Cheshire in 1976, Bossons’ childhood years were spent living on a dairy farm where she developed a keen interest in watercolour painting. Self taught with no formal art training, Bossons managed to exhibit her work in art exhibitions (including the British Society of Painters Exhibition in Yorkshire) around the country and won an award for watercolour painting.

Bossons’ career began as a paintress or ceramic painter at Mason’s Ironstone (a subsidiary of Wedgwood) in Hanley, Stoke on Trent. This was as part of a £40 per week government training scheme and involved painting the company’s designs onto their pottery.

In 1996, Bosson moved to Moorcroft again as a paintress. In 1998 Bosson was “promoted” to their Moorcroft Design Studio and became their youngest designer.

Bossons’ first design was the 8 inch high “Victoriana” vase for the Moorcroft Collectors Club in late 1998. This design featured chrysanthemums, Scotch roses and Winter aconite in a conservative style typical of many previous Moorcroft designs - that is - large blooms running huddled around the centre of the vase.

In 2000, Bossons’ first complete range “Hepatica” was produced, based on the delicate purple woodland flower. Here one can see the emergence of Bossons’ signature sweeping curving stems. The range is also perhaps influenced by Rachel Bishop’s (Moorcroft’s head designer) successful use of negative space.

In the following two years Bossons produced two designs which established her reputation as one of Moorcroft’s most popular designers. These designs were “Queen’s Choice” and “Anenome Tribute”. In the range “Queen’s Choice”, peaches, figs and berries intertwine around vases and plates. As well as shaped leaves and fruits, Bossons’ prominent sweeping stems, curl and sweep their way around the contours of vases and plates in the range. This is characteristic of Bossons’ designs. 2002’s “Anenome Tribute” echoed the original 1938 “Anenome” design by William Moorcroft and its subsequent revisions by Walter Moorcroft in 1953 and 1989. Such a long standing pattern had become synonymous with the Moorcroft brand and Bossons’ version stuck closely to the original with large anemone blooms in deep red and purple. She did however add closed buds and again sweeping stems in the background which serve to guide the viewer around the piece.

Another design which confirmed Bossons’ importance to Moorcroft was her 2004 “Knypersley” range (named after moorlands east of Stoke on Trent). Bossons updated the characteristic Moorcroft trees which had previously graced designs such as Eventide and Moonlit Blue at the beginning of the 20th century. Added to this she incorporated the initials “WM” into the foreground. “WM” were the initials of founders of Moorcroft and had previously been handsigned onto the bases of pieces by Walter Moorcroft.

In 2005 Bossons’ “Hidden Dreams” collection was unveiled and this led to her being given the Innovation Award at Stoke on Trent’s Citizen of the Year Awards. The collection features a range of vases and jugs as well as biscuit barrel. One vase is titled “Edwardiana” and is a revision of her original 1998 “Victoriana” vase design. Using the same shape of vase, flowers and colours as “Victoriana”, characteristic sweeping and curving stylised flowers mirror the contours of vase. Bossons’ style has matured and her characteristic design is now very much in evidence.

In 2005 Bossons was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Following advice from their bankers, Moorcroft insured Bossons for a widely publicised £1½ million. Moorcroft Chairman Hugh Edwards described Bossons as “a phenomenon who has helped us in a difficult economic environment” and admitted that Bossons’ designs were responsible for hefty 40% of the company’s £6 million annual sales. It is unclear whether this was a publicity stunt.

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