This a question that has taxed Susie Cooper collectors and Art Deco Design experts for many years. There is no one simple answer, however we believe there are a number of factors which make a Grays pattern more or less likely to have been designed by Susie Cooper. Firstly it should be noted that Susie Cooper herself claimed that she had designed all of the patterns during her time at Grays Pottery from 1923 to 1929. However there were probably more than 3000 patterns produced during this time and it seems extremely unlikely that she was single-handedly responsible for all of them. She started off working as a paintress and only became chief designer in the last three years of her time at Grays. She was also not the only designer working at Grays at the time. Backstamps can provide some clues but they can also confuse the situation as well. We feel that any pattern that has the Liner backstamp with the words "Designed by Susie Cooper" should be regarded as definitely one of her designs and that any pattern number after 8500 is almost certainly not one of her designs as it would have been first produced after she had left Grays in 1929. There may however be some exceptions to this rule as any patterns she designed before she left Grays would have remained the "intellectual property" of Grays Pottery permitting them to use the design after she left. One example of this is pattern number 8567 - a stylised flower spray a colour variation of which is known to exist without a pattern number but with the Liner "Designed by Susie Cooper" backstamp. To try to clarify some of the confusion we have come up with a list of criteria which we feel a pattern needs to meet before it can be regarded as a Susie Cooper design:

​

• The pattern needs to have been first produced by Grays between 1923 and 1929

• At least one example of the pattern should exist with the Liner "Designed by Susie Cooper" backstamp

or

• The pattern has been documented in a trade magazine or advertisement published at the time as being designed by Susie Cooper

or​

• The pattern is a colour variation of a recognised Susie Cooper design with the "Designed by Susie Cooper" backstamp

or​

• The pattern is one of those chosen for the Victoria and Albert Susie Cooper exhibition in 1987 organised by the V&A ceramics department with the assistance of Susie Cooper herself

or​

• The pattern has characteristics which demonstrate Susie Cooper's unique design style. This is most obvious with some of her stylised animal designs which are unique to Susie Cooper. The most recognisable and unmistakeable designs occur throughout her career and include deers, foxes, tigers and rabbits. Good examples of these occur in Patterns 8335 and 8362, the latter pattern we believe only survives today in one example on a tea plate with a Galleon backstamp.

​

It is of course possible that there are other Susie Cooper designs that don't meet these criteria, however proving that those designs are hers would be difficult.

​