Susie Cooper: A Pioneer of Modern Design

Description

As a woman in an industry run by men, it was her ability to anticipate the mood of the day and understand market trends that enabled Susie Cooper to keep ahead of her competitors. Cooper made her name hrough designing for and managing her own company. This was not, however, the only way in which she was unique; she produced modern pots at affordable prices and provided customers who possessed exceptional taste, but little money, with well-designed practical and attractive pottery. Cooper's pots became symbolic of the new domestic life enjoyed by the suburban middle classes. Her career spanned seven decades and a staggering four thousand patterns ranging from the jazz modern colours of the Art Deco period to the Pop Art of the swinging sixties. This centenary book outlines and discusses Susie Cooper's major achievements throughout her prolific career. It brings together the leading experts and authorities who reflect upon her life and work, as well as providing contectual contemporary evidence on the twentieth century ceramic industry as a whole. For the very first time known aspects of her life will be brought together with the unknown, including new research material and information from her family. The focus of the book is on new information and original research to add to the understanding of one of our greatest ceramic designers,

Andrew Casey is the author of 20th Century Designers in Britain also published by Antique Collectors' Club. He formed Susie Cooper Collectors' Club in 1990. He has curated several exhibitions including 'Susie Cooper Productions' for Ipswich Museums and Galleries in 1989 and 'Dynamic Designers' for Croydon Museum in 1999. Ann Eatwell is assistant curator in the metalwork department of the V&A Museum. She curated the retrospective exhibition, 'Susie Cooper Productions' and was the author of the accompanying book for the V&A Museum in 1987. She has researched and written on modern industrial ceramic production.