A life in pattern
S ince establishing her pottery business 30 years ago, Emma Bridgewater’s cheerful kitchenware has found its way onto the dresser shelves and kitchen tables of homes all over Britain and beyond. The company is still run by Emma and her husband, Matthew, who both continue to contribute designs.
In this beautiful new book, Pattern, Emma has created an overview of Emma Bridgewater designs from the early years to the present day, choosing her personal favourites from among the huge number of quintessentially British patterns to have graced her distinctively shaped pieces over the years.
Hunting animals, including greyhounds and Labradors, also feature in the company’s designs
She focuses mainly on her spongeware – the technique of printing a pattern using a piece of sponge cut into a shape, to simple and punchy effect – and gives context to the gorgeous images by telling the stories and influences that brought the designs into being.
Her bestselling-pattern, Polka Dots, has, since 2002, sold around two-million pieces and was influenced by the books she read as a child: those of Beatrix Potter, Maurice Sendak and, in particular the Ladybird books, which, as she says in her introduction to Patterns, gave rise to ‘a strong desire to bring back that time of my early childhood, to conjure up its atmosphere in pattern: Polka Dots was (eventually, tangentially) the result’.
Emma Bridgewater runs her kitchenware company with her husband Matthew
Throughout the book, Emma shares the inspirations that inspired the designs, inspirations frequently drawn from everyday life – from family holidays on the Norfolk coast or the Scottish Isles and cosy Paisley eiderdowns to Mary Quant’s white patent boots and citrus minidresses. Grounded so often in childhood, nostalgia, the familiar, the charming and the evocative, it is easy to understand why her work has such enormous and enduring appeal.
Matthew’s passion for poultry has inspired much of Emma’s kitchenware. The Black Cockerel range appeared in 1987 and the Blue Hens design – depicted in a ‘classic cobalt blue’ – was launched in 1997
Emma would modestly describe herself, not as a master potter, but as a ‘grubby industrialist with a factory making useful everyday ware’. But really, that self-effacing description fails to capture the delight and charm of the uniquely British brand celebrated in Pattern, and the simple joy her designs have brought to millions.
This sea theme can also be seen in the Blue Shells range
Pattern & The Secrets Of Lasting Design, by Emma Bridgewater, with photography by Andrew Montgomery, is published by Saltyard Books, priced £25.
In this beautiful new book, Pattern, Emma has created an overview of Emma Bridgewater designs from the early years to the present day, choosing her personal favourites from among the huge number of quintessentially British patterns to have graced her distinctively shaped pieces over the years.
Hunting animals, including greyhounds and Labradors, also feature in the company’s designsShe focuses mainly on her spongeware – the technique of printing a pattern using a piece of sponge cut into a shape, to simple and punchy effect – and gives context to the gorgeous images by telling the stories and influences that brought the designs into being.
Her bestselling-pattern, Polka Dots, has, since 2002, sold around two-million pieces and was influenced by the books she read as a child: those of Beatrix Potter, Maurice Sendak and, in particular the Ladybird books, which, as she says in her introduction to Patterns, gave rise to ‘a strong desire to bring back that time of my early childhood, to conjure up its atmosphere in pattern: Polka Dots was (eventually, tangentially) the result’.
Emma Bridgewater runs her kitchenware company with her husband MatthewThroughout the book, Emma shares the inspirations that inspired the designs, inspirations frequently drawn from everyday life – from family holidays on the Norfolk coast or the Scottish Isles and cosy Paisley eiderdowns to Mary Quant’s white patent boots and citrus minidresses. Grounded so often in childhood, nostalgia, the familiar, the charming and the evocative, it is easy to understand why her work has such enormous and enduring appeal.
Matthew’s passion for poultry has inspired much of Emma’s kitchenware. The Black Cockerel range appeared in 1987 and the Blue Hens design – depicted in a ‘classic cobalt blue’ – was launched in 1997Emma would modestly describe herself, not as a master potter, but as a ‘grubby industrialist with a factory making useful everyday ware’. But really, that self-effacing description fails to capture the delight and charm of the uniquely British brand celebrated in Pattern, and the simple joy her designs have brought to millions.
This sea theme can also be seen in the Blue Shells rangePattern & The Secrets Of Lasting Design, by Emma Bridgewater, with photography by Andrew Montgomery, is published by Saltyard Books, priced £25.