Tableware Blog

Some tableware patterns shout for attention. Poole Pottery Twintone does something rather more confident. It keeps things simple, pairs two complementary colours, and somehow manages to look both practical and quietly stylish at the same time.

Produced in a wide range of colour combinations over many decades, Poole Pottery Twintone is not really one single pattern in the usual sense. It is better thought of as a family of related designs, linked by colour, shape and that very recognisable Poole Pottery feel.

For anyone who cares about British pottery, this is a sad one.

After more than two centuries of tableware history, Denby has now closed its stores, its Pottery Village and its Derbyshire pottery operation. The brand itself appears set to continue under new ownership, but the Denby we have known for generations, the Denby of Derbyshire clay, British-made stoneware, factory seconds, pottery visits and familiar patterns on kitchen tables across the country, has reached the end of a very significant chapter.

That deserves a moment.

We have added another useful selection of discontinued china and replacement tableware to the website, with a nice mix of everyday pieces, serving ware and a couple of more unusual finds.

Some patterns are instantly recognisable, even from the smallest glimpse across a charity shop shelf. Denby Greenwheat is one of them. With its handpainted wheat motif, practical stoneware body and quietly confident mid-century style, it became one of Denby’s best loved tableware designs. First introduced in...

When people talk about replacing a broken plate, cup or serving dish, the words can get a little muddled. One person may call everything china, another may say pottery, while someone else may refer to ceramics, porcelain, bone china, stoneware or earthenware.

Portmeirion Botanic Garden is one of the best-known British tableware designs of the last fifty years, and one of those rare patterns that manages to feel both familiar and fresh.

First created in 1972 by Susan Williams-Ellis, Botanic Garden brought a new kind of relaxed, mix and match charm to the table. Instead of every plate carrying exactly the same decoration, the range used different botanical illustrations across different pieces, tied together by the now famous laurel leaf border.

See below for the latest discontinued china added to our website. Are your replacement china pieces amongst it?

This week’s new stock update brings together a lovely mixture of everyday replacement china, serving pieces, tea ware, giftware and a few rather nice collectable finds.

Summer eating has a different feel to it. It is less about formal place settings and more about sharing. A quiche on the table. A jug of something cold. Bowls of salad. Pickles, chutneys, olives, dips, bread, fruit, cheese, and someone inevitably asking where the...