B is for… Briglin

Briglin Pottery was founded in 1948 in London’s West End by Brigitte Goldschmidt and Eileen Lewenstein.

They produced a variety of handmade & decorated pottery items such as vases, lamp bases, money boxes and tableware.

The pottery has characteristic subtle, natural tones – oatmeal, terracotta & chocolate.

A wax resist technique was often used in the glazing process, producing a wonderfully tactile result – alternating coarse and smooth surfaces.

We really love the recurring daisy / sunflower motif – also the leaves on stem and striped designs.

We’re currently fighting over this wonderful big striped mug. To keep the peace, the deal is – if you make the brew, you get the mug!

If we’ve spiked your interest you’ll find a lot more information on the Briglin Pottery and Pottery Studio websites. There’s also a book on the subject available on Amazon and Abe Books.

A is for… Arne

It’s the start of a new year… so we’re starting a new alphabet blog series.

We picked up this fabulous stainless steel tea set over the holiday period – so ‘A’ just had to be for ‘Arne’… Arne Jacobsen that is.

He’s one of the great designers of the 20th century – and is the man responsible for designing this set.

It was manufactured by Stelton of Denmark in the 1960s. The various pieces are unused in their boxes… and retain their original labels to the underside.

The Cylinda-line brochures (of which the set is part) were inside the pots.

original brochure for Cylinda-line range designed in the 1960s by Arne Jacobsen for Danish manufacturer Stelton — click on image to enlarge

The range comprises a variety of tablewares including tea & coffee sets, salt & pepper pots, toast racks, sauce boats, serving dishes, coasters, cocktail mixers, ice buckets etc.

In fact, we sold the Cylinda-line ice bucket on the website last year.

The collection is beautifully made, very functional and looks fantastic too!

It was awarded the id Prize in 1967 by the Danish Society of Industrial Design and the International Design Award 1968 by the American Institute of Interior Designers.

A really great find to start the new year!

Z is for… Zoo

We’ve reached the end of the alphabet… and ‘Z’ is for zoo. Our virtual zoo is full of animals beautifully interpreted in pottery, glass, textiles, book illustrations and more. All our animals are well looked after… and there’s no entrance fee!!