Moorcroft Gracilis Tray

‘Gracilis’ – the Latin word for slender is the perfect name for this slim, elegant and graceful rose. Yet it was the exquisite rose-pink colourisation which caught the eye of Moorcroft designer, Emma Bossons, when perusing the unfolding colour fusions of this full petalled rose on Plate 99, named as Rosa gracilis, from Henry Cranke Andrews’s ‘Roses: or a monograph of the genus Rosa’ Volume 2 (London, 1805-1828). A myriad of pink petals appear on this coaster, with almost as many frills as a lady’s petticoat, set against a classic dark blue Moorcroft ground to set Gracilis off to  perfection. should be noted that without the skilled artistry of a senior Moorcroft painter, the dense network of colour fusions would not have come to life under glaze. Now swirls of candyfloss-pink and white take the eye through a helter skelter ride of rose-pink, pale-pink, and baby-pink fusions, all cushioned on a curled leaf, itself coloured just like Andrews’s original artwork, gently diffusing from forest greens to shades of sage.