Faulconbridge Antiques is the Moorcroft pottery company’s biggest customer, which is one reason why the company’s chairman is coming to visit.
Hugh Edwards saved Moorcroft 30 years ago when it teetered on the brink of insolvency. The English lawyer and his wife, Maureen, were forced to sell their own collection of 612 Moorcroft pieces to finance the rescue mission.
And it worked.
Since then, Moorcroft has flourished and the pottery is in demand all over the world – particularly, it transpires, in the Blue Mountains.
“The biggest customer in the world is the shop in Faulconbridge,” he told the Gazette from the UK where he was preparing for his trip. “I think I’ve really got to pull out all the stoppers when I come.”
Mr Edwards is a frequent visitor to Australia – “it’s like a second home” – and briefly contemplated emigrating when he was younger.
He is looking forward to renewing acquaintance with some of the Moorcroft lovers of the Mountains when he returns to Faulconbridge Antiques on Sunday, August 20, to talk about some of the pieces in the new Icons of Australia series.
“I don’t go there as a salesman – I’m the worst salesman in the world but I am an enthusiast,” he said.
“Faulconbridge probably has the best selection of Moorcroft in the world. I’ll look at some of the pieces I find interesting, either because of the way they’ve been painted or because they’re very rare. I’ll talk about those and then go through the Icons of Australia.”
The icons were decided upon by Mr Edwards with his director of art, Elise Adams, who whittled down about 20 works suggested by their design team.
They include wrens, butterflies, the lyre bird, numbats and local flora.
“I’ll give little anecdotes about them and some interesting facts,” Mr Edwards said. “Which icon, for example, is not truly Australian?”
The answer is the desert rose, a flower which features in the series. It was actually brought to Australia from the Middle East, he said.
See Mr Edwards at Faulconbridge Antiques from noon-5pm on August 20. To pre-order and/or attend this special event, contact Kevin and Garry Austin on 4751 7627 or email faulconbridgeantiques@bigpond.com by August 15.
WIN
The Gazette has a beautiful piece of Moorcroft pottery to win. Wedding Gift is a piece of art worth $1,285. It features doves swooping and soaring over a bird cage – for the designer bird cages seemed such a negative image unless, of course, the cage door is open.
There are also 10 runner-up prizes of Winds of Change (worth $62 each), a full colour book written by Fraser Street, aka Hugh Edwards.
To enter, email damien.madigan@fairfaxmedia.com.au with Moorcroft in the subject line, or send an envelope with name, address and phone number to Moorcroft competition, PO Box 21, Springwood 2777. Entries close 5pm on Friday, August 18.
