Today, Burleigh, founded in 1851, is the only pottery in the world to use traditional underglaze tissue-transfer printing to produce its handcrafted tableware. Its famous blue-and-white china patterns, including Asiatic Pheasants and Calico, are attracting a new (and younger) audience, the order book is full and export sales are up by 50%—hence the multi-lingual signs at the pottery.
Its story of success is all the more remarkable given that the Burslem-based company was on the verge of collapse less than a decade ago. Of course, Burleigh was not alone: the Potteries, home to more than 2,000 kilns in the late 19th century, had been in sharp decline for decades. The demise of formal dining, as well as cheaper imports from the Far East, had brought the industry to a particularly low ebb by the early 21st century.
‘Civic pride had diminished to such a point that people still in the industry were demoralised,’ says commercial director Jim Norman. ‘We seemed to have convinced ourselves that what we did here in Staffordshire wasn’t valuable anymore; that it was better to have mass-produced, characterless products that could be bought cheaply, rather than handcrafted tableware.’
この記事は Country Life UK の October 2, 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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この記事は Country Life UK の October 2, 2019 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
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