BURLEIGH POTTERY

IF THERE’S ONE COMPANY that understands the importance of tradition, it’s Burleigh. The brand, based in Middleport in Stoke-on-Trent, is famed for its quality ceramics and timeless designs. Its floral motifs in blue and white are especially well-liked, and its designs are popular with royals, celebrities and everyday folk alike.

- Miriam Methuen-Jones

Burleigh is the only pottery in the world that still employs the technique of tissue transfer printing.

The company began trading back in 1851, and its manufacturing methods have remained largely unchanged ever since. It is the last pottery in the world to use underglaze tissue transfer decoration to create its designs. “This technique requires skill that takes apprentice decorators years to master,” says Alison Howell, Burleigh’s design development manager. “Once perfected, though, it achieves results that no other process can replicate.

“Our process starts with a copper roller intricately engraved with a pattern. The roller is loaded onto a printing machine dating from 1953 (a rather modern addition for us!) and primed with ink. This then rotates and prints our patterns onto a continuous stream of fine tissue paper. Our skilled decorators deftly apply this print to a range of ceramic shapes.”