Bernard Moore (1850-1935) succeeded his father's Staffordshire pottery with his brother Samuel in 1870. The brothers continued to produce "marketable" china, however it was their development of ornamental pottery that brought them commercial success.
Bernard had a fascination with pottery of the Far East and spent a lot of time during the 1890s experimenting with glazes. In 1902, he presented the British Museum with six examples of his work. These were recorded by the Museum as being the first attempts in England to produce Chinese flambe on porcelain. Moore thus became known as the first to successfully develop ancient Chinese style flambe glazes.
Following the closure of the Moore Bros pottery in 1905, Bernard Moore established his own studio, where he continued to produce technically remarkable pieces with flambe and sang de boeuf glazes, catering to an international market. He produced his rouge flambe glazes through the use of copper – an achievement that is said to be his finest as a glaze chemist. He also discovered interesting effects with other metals, arriving at a range of unique glazes, each to which he gave a special name. His glazes were often intense in hue, some glowing and speckled with golden highlights. The range of reds he achieved clearly demonstrated the control with which he was able to manipulate his materials.
Bernard Moore's pioneering work with flambe glazes had a strong influence over the pottery industry as a whole. Although his pieces are not readily available on the market, each and every one that surfaces can be considered unique in its own right.