Portmeirion Pottery - Decorative and Useful
Perhaps the surprising thing is that the most popular designs use 19th century botanic illustrations and have been wildly successful in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
Although Susan Williams-Ellis died at the age of 89 on 27th November, 2007, the company continues and still comes out with new designs and products so keeping to the spirit alive of its founder.
Contents
- The Background to Portmeirion Pottery
- Portmeirion Early Designs
- Susan Williams-Ellis said...
- Botanic Garden from Portmeirion Pottery
- Later Designs of Portmeirion Pottery
- Did You Know?
- Collecting Portmeirion Pottery
- Portmeirion Pottery on Blog Posts from Google
- More Lenses about Collectibles
- Do you like Portmeirion Pottery?
The Background to Portmeirion Pottery
The Pantheon (Dome), Portmeirion, Gwynedd, Wales, Photographic Print
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Although Portmeirion Pottery is made in Stoke-on-Trent, there are strong connections to Sir Clough Williams-Ellis' village. His daughter, Susan Williams-Ellis, who studied at the Chelsea School of Art under Sir Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland, designed pottery exclusively for the Portmeirion gift shop in the 1950s.
In 1960, she and her husband, Euan Cooper-Willis, bought the pottery decorating business of A.E. Gray Ltd which she had been using to produce her designs. The following year they bought Kirkham's Ltd, a pottery manufacturing company and they renamed the entire business Portmeirion Potteries. These acquisitions allowed Susan to design both the shapes and surface patterns, an unusual thing for a designer to do at that time.
Tour of Portmeirion
Portmeirion Early Designs
Portmeirion Crazy Daisy Teapot
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Susan Williams-Ellis had already produced one of her most expensive designs. During the 1950s she had designed fabric based on the mineral malachite for use as curtains in Portmeirion's hotel. After she and her husband bought A.E. Gray, she reproduced the design in pottery. Malachite was very expensive to make especially as it was sumptuously gilded so few pieces were produced, making it very collectable now.
Moss Agate was another early design only made in small quantities due to the costs involved. This time Susan used engravings of the semi-precious mineral moss agate as the pattern. The design was transferred, usually on to bone china, and then gold was applied to the motifs before firing giving an embossed look.
Susan Williams-Ellis said...
...she wanted to make "good functional designs that were practical, beautiful and affordable."
Portmeirion Pottery on Amazon
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Square Mini Dishes 3" Each Set of 4
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 12/16/2009) 
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Salad Plates 8.5" Set of 6
Amazon Price: $89.99 (as of 12/16/2009)
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Dinner Plates, Set of 6
Amazon Price: $119.99 (as of 12/16/2009)
Portmeirion Pomona Square Plate 8.5" Set of 6 (PM76003-X)
Amazon Price: $80.13 (as of 12/16/2009)
Botanic Garden from Portmeirion Pottery
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Cake Plate
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With the success of the design, Susan then hunted for more antiquarian botanic books. First she found The Moral of Flowers, illustrated by William Clarke. When these were introduced on her pottery, they were an immediate success so Susan found more of his work to use.
Stephen McKay, one of the authors of the definitive work, Portmeirion Pottery, (authors: Steven Jenkins and Stephen P. McKay) says that Americans are the biggest collectors of older Botanic Garden pieces while British collectors generally prefer other designs.
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Pottery from Amazon
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Individual 5-1/2-Inch Fruit Salad Bowls, Set of 6
Amazon Price: $92.99 (as of 12/16/2009)
Portmeirion Botanic Garden New Amazon Exclusive 20pc Starter Set. Service for 4.
Amazon Price: $169.99 (as of 12/16/2009)
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Two-Tier Cake Server
Amazon Price: (as of 12/16/2009)
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Bristol Mug, Set of 6
Amazon Price: $135.00 (as of 12/16/2009)
Portmeirion Botanic Garden Square Canister Shape (Speedwell) 21"
Amazon Price: $156.00 (as of 12/16/2009)
Later Designs of Portmeirion Pottery
Portmeirion Botanic
Garden Sovereign Vase Shape
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Susan's use of antiquarian prints wasn't confined to beautiful pictures of flowers. She found some old plates for printing advertisements in the basement of the factory. She used them to produce a range featuring Victorian chemist's advertisements for medicines, toothpastes and cosmetics. These are very sought after by both collectors of Portmeirion pottery and collectors of advertising.
After 45 years, Portmeirion pottery is now as popular as ever and, although it was floated on the Stock Exchange in 1988, still remains strongly influenced by the design talents of the family - Anwyl and Menna Cooper-Willis, the daughters of Susan Williams-Ellis and Euan Cooper-Willis worked closely with their mother before her death.
Did You Know?
The founder of Portmeirion Pottery, Susan Williams-Ellis liked to snorkel and used a waterproof board with plastic paper to sketch coral reefs. These drawings were later used on limited edition plates.
Collecting Portmeirion Pottery
Portmeirion Pottery
Rose Bouquet Tea Set
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Currently, many pieces can be bought at very reasonable prices. Depending on the design, you can expect to pay from £25 to £5000 for one of the company's distinctive, tall coffee pots. Looking at pieces in auctions over the past year, it is possible to buy Portmeirion in mixed lots at very reasonable prices, possibly because few dealers are buying it at the moment. eBay is another good place to look for Portmeirion Pottery. Prices of the designs produced in small quantities like Malachite, Moss Agate and Magic Garden, are going to be more expensive. As time goes on, though, prices are almost certain to rise so, if you want to collect Portmeirion Pottery, now is the time to start.
Portmeirion Pottery on Blog Posts from Google
- BEAUTIFUL POTTERY: Portmeirion Botanic Garden Table Lamp
- Portmeirion Botanic Garden Table Lamp. design 01. design 02. Portmeirion Botanic Garden Table Lamp exclusively design & brought by us from UK To order pls call 012 2415180 kak mimi. Posted by beautiful pottery at 07:51 ...
- BEAUTIFUL POTTERY: Portmeirion Botanic Garden 5" Bread Plates
- Portmeirion Botanic Garden 5" Bread Plates. Portmeirion Botanic Garden 5" Bread Plates set of 6 pcs. Available now in KL. To order please call 012 2415180. Posted by beautiful pottery at 04:52. Labels: Portmeirion Botanic Garden ...
- BEAUTIFUL POTTERY: Portmeirion Pomona Ramekin
- Portmeirion Pomona Ramekin. Portmeirion Pomona Ramekin set of 6 available in KL to order pls call 012 2415180 ( Kak Mimi ). Posted by beautiful pottery at 06:53. Labels: Portmeirion Pomona ...
- BEAUTIFUL POTTERY: Portmeirion Flower Of The Month 6" Plates
- MADE IN BRITAIN Available now in KL. Please email me at beautifulpottery@yahoo.com or call 012-2415180 (Kak MIMI ) if you are interested to order this set. Posted by beautiful pottery at 20:11. Labels: Portmeirion Botanic Garden ...
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Do you like Portmeirion Pottery?
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- Heather426 Heather426 Mar 11, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
- have always loved the Botanical design and enjoyed this lens. 5*
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- paperfacets paperfacets Feb 26, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
- Another thorough and interesting lens. Pottery is a draw for me. I want to see this village!
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- norbridgeantiques norbridgeantiques Feb 14, 2009 @ 8:43 am
- Excellent lens. A lovely pottery with a botanical design. 5*
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- CollectorsCottage CollectorsCottage Aug 4, 2008 @ 10:19 am
- OUTSTANDING lens! I love the pictures of Portmeirion, it's definitely going on my travel list. The pottery is absolutely beautiful. I'm happy to add this lens to the Collector Clubs group!
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- Roxy_Calamari Roxy_Calamari Aug 4, 2008 @ 4:45 am
- Great lens. Lovely pottery and a lot of information about it...especially enjoyed the photo galleries.
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