William de Morgan
William De Morgan devoted the years 1869 to 1907 to making hand-decorated tiles and ceramics that complimented the textile products of his friend, Arts and Crafts leader William Morris. De Morgan was inspired by Islamic design. In circa 1873, he rediscovered lusterware and began using it with a palette of dark blue, turquoise, manganese purple, green, Indian red, and lemon yellow. Many of his intensely colored designs depict fantastic creatures entwined with wave or leaf motifs. He spent several seasons in Florence, Italy, where he worked with Ulisse Cantagalli.
De Morgan became familiar with Islamic design by studying early Persian ceramics, Hispano-Moresque pottery, and most likely also from Persian designs published in1856 in Owen Jones's Grammar of Ornament.
He had begun his career as a painter and stained glass artist and after the age of 65 was successful as a novelist.