His early style, featuring a variety of blooms, including forget-me-nots, cornflowers, irises and tulips, is still one of the most acclaimed Moorcroft ranges and consistently sought after by today’s connoisseurs of his work. The collection for sale at Sworders displays the vendor's particular passion for pieces of the 'Poppy' design: from teawares to vases, there are some sixty-six pieces, including an inkstand (lot 60, estimate £500-700) and a chocolate set comprising a tray, chocolate pot, cream jug and sugar bowl (lot 51, estimate £300-500).

Moorcroft miniatures, produced in a bewildering range of forms and patterns from the early 1900s onwards, are a collecting field of their own and some of these tiny rarities from the Macintyre era can command sums to rival those paid for full-sized versions. Such miniatures were this collector’s first love and there are over forty examples in different designs, each measuring no more than 3½in (8cm) high. Highlights include tiny vases in the 'Poppy' (£300-500), 'Forget-Me-Nots' (£300-500), 'Pansy' (£200-300) and 'Alhambra' (£200-300) patterns.

Backed by the famous London store of Liberty & Co., where many of his products were sold, in 1913 Moorcroft was able to open an art pottery factory of his own on Sandbach Road, Cobridge, Staffordshire.  Key amongst the artful patterns created there, specifically for distribution through Liberty, was 'Claremont', the popular toadstool pattern made in subtly different guises in the first three decades of the 20th century from c.1905. Lot 129 is a 'Claremont' vase, printed with the mark 'Made for Liberty & Co.’ with the registration number '420081' for c.1910 and estimated at £800-1,200. It is one of thirty-two examples of this pattern in the sale and together they make a remarkable display.  The landscape designs of 'Eventide', with its autumnal balloon-shaped trees, and the similar 'Moonlit Blue' pattern were other popular patterns retailed by Liberty & Co. There are a dozen pieces of each in the sale.

The series of relatively formal Art Deco wares made by Moorcroft in the 1920s and 1930s assumed a more austere aesthetic. These pared-back tube-lined designs were well received in Paris at the time and Moorcroft won an award at the famous 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes - the event that gave Art Deco its name - and again at the 1937 International Exposition.

A final highlight of the collection is the series of 'Fish' designs; twenty-six examples on offer in a range of various colours and glaze types. The most desirable are typically the high-temperature flambé glazes for which Moorcroft built a special kiln in 1921. A vase with this lustrous effect (lot 216), with the impressed Moorcroft signature and the mark 'Potter to HM The Queen' (a reference to the royal warrant granted to the factory by Queen Mary in 1928), is expected to realise £2,000-3,000.

As well as bowls and vases in many different forms, the collection reflects the wide variety of intriguing and unusual items produced by Moorcroft, including timepieces, inkwells and inkstands, a ring stand, hair tidier and moustache cup. 

The collection, comprising over 250 lots, will be offered for sale on Tuesday 17 September with a total estimated value of around £75,000.