Tableware Blog — Pattern Library

Some tableware patterns are subtle. Johnson Brothers Summer Chintz is not really one of them.

It is pretty, floral, cheerful and unmistakably of its time, in the best possible way. With pink flowers, pastel detail, soft borders and that familiar Johnson Brothers earthenware feel, Johnson Brothers Summer Chintz belongs very happily to the country kitchen and afternoon tea side of tableware history.

Some Royal Albert patterns are bold, dramatic and instantly showy. Royal Albert Lavender Rose takes a softer approach.

With its pink rose sprays, delicate lavender tones, green foliage, white fine bone china and gold trim, Royal Albert Lavender Rose has a gentler feel than some of the maker’s more flamboyant floral patterns. It is still unmistakably Royal Albert, but it has a lightness that makes it especially pretty on a tea table.

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.

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...

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.

Wedgwood Hathaway Rose is one of those floral china patterns that feels quietly English without needing to shout about it.

Produced from 1959 to 1987, it is a discontinued Wedgwood fine bone china range decorated with soft pink roses, green and grey foliage, and fine gold edging. It has a gentle, traditional look, but there is more to the pattern than a simple rose border.

Wedgwood Florentine is one of those tableware patterns that feels unmistakably Wedgwood: elegant, detailed, formal, and just a little bit grand.

It is best known today in its rich Turquoise version, but Florentine is not a single-colour story. Over the years it has appeared in a number of colourways, each giving the same distinctive border design a slightly different character.

Denmark, often known as Blue Denmark or Denmark Blue, is one of those tableware patterns that can be both instantly recognisable and slightly confusing at the same time.

Most people remember the blue and white version. It is the classic one, with deep blue stylised flowers, trailing stems, shaped borders and a crisp traditional feel. But Denmark is not quite as simple as one pottery, one pattern, one version.