Emma Bridgewater Pottery

Latest: On 19th Feb  HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall visited the Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent.

Since 1985 Emma Bridgewater pottery has become renowned for its playful designs and traditional Staffordshire earthenware quality. Every piece of Emma Bridgewater pottery is made by hand and decorated with rich colours and Emma's distinctive designs, such as polka dots, blue hens, pink hearts and the renowned 'black toast'. The range of pottery includes mugs, plates, butter dishes and jugs. All the essentials for the typically English kitchen in fact. Apart from Emma Bridgewater pottery, the company also offers handmade glasware, tinware including biscuit and cake tins, kitchen utensils, full dinner sets, stationery and a range of items with themes for children. There is also a superb range of kitchen textiles, including cook's aprons, oven gloves and tea towels.

Emma Bridgewater Ltd is a British company owned and run by Emma and her husband Matthew Rice, who also designs for the company. Emma Bridgewater began life in 1985, conceived following an unsuccessful shopping trip by Emma to buy a cup and saucer for her mother's birthday. Disappointed by the lack of options, Emma took matters into her own hands, drawing designs for a mug, bowl, jug and dish. Emma Bridgewater pottery began life. She then commissioned a Stoke-on-Trent craftsman to produce them for her, and worked alongside him to hone the designs until she was satisfied. The pieces proved a big success, and within a few years Emma Bridgewater Ltd was able to move into its own factory in Stoke-on-Trent. The story since then has been one of continual growth. The company now has four shops, three in London and one in Edinburgh, as well as a popular factory outlet in Stoke-on-Trent, and a thriving online business.

Emma Bridgewater is rapidly becoming a new institution in British design. Where so many other Stoke-on-Trent crafts companies appear to be in inexorable decline, Emma Bridgewater has bucked the trend with her range of quintessentially British (Staffordshire to be precise) pottery, kitchenware and homeware. As a relative newcomer to Stoke-on-Trent, she has successfully drawn inspiration from her own rustic childhood, and wedded this to the traditons and expertise of the area, which dates back over 200 years. Every Emma Bridgewater pottery item is crafted by hand, and each one can personalised for special occasions with hand applied dates, names and messages. Along with Cath Kidston, Emma Bridgewater has reinterpreted British homeware, retaining all the qualities of the past, while injecting new life into the genre with her extensive portfolio of joyful, distinctly British patterns.