Emma Bossons, born in 1976 in

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, is a ceramic

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and designer for

Moorcroft W. Moorcroft Limited (trading as W Moorcroft Ltd) is a British art pottery manufacturer based at Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The company was founded by William Moorcroft in 1913. History In 1897, Staffordshire pottery manufacturers ...

Pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

Life

Bossons' childhood years were spent living on a dairy farm where she developed a keen interest in

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

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.

Career

Bossons' career began as a painter or ceramic painter at

Mason's Ironstone Ironstone china, ironstone ware or most commonly just ironstone, is a type of vitreous pottery first made in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century. It is often classed as earthenware although in appearance and properties it is similar ...

, a subsidiary of

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

, in Hanley,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

. This was as part of a £40 per week government training scheme and involved painting the company’s designs onto their pottery.

Moorcroft

In 1996 Bossons moved to

, again as a painter. In 1998 Bossons was promoted to their Moorcroft Design Studio and became their youngest designer. Her first range for Moorcroft, ''Hepatica'', was completed in 2000. Her following range, ''Queen's Choice'', became Moorcroft's best seller for 2001. Following advice from their bankers, Moorcroft insured Bossons for a widely publicised £1.5 million. Moorcroft Chairman Hugh Edwards described Bossons as "a phenomenon who has helped us in a difficult economic environment" and noted that Bossons' designs were responsible for 40% of the company's £6 million annual sales. Some of her work has sold for more than £11,000; as of 2018 one of her ''Queen's Choice'' vases was priced at £12,220.

References

External links

Moorcroft's Emma Bossons designer range
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bossons, Emma British designers 1976 births Living people People from Congleton