Hasta La Ideas

Not one – but two projects have come to our attention this week that look to celebrate and revive blue and white porcelain and pottery…

First up is the Blueware Collection of objects created by London-based Studio Glithero. Inspired by John Herschel‘s 1840 invention of the Blueprinting process which marked the advent of photography, Studio Glithero’s Tim Simpson and Sarah van Gameren worked with master ceramicists in Stoke-on-Trent to create a series of white vases and tiles that were embedded with light-reacting chemicals. A combination of weeds, leaves and images of botanical specimens were arranged on the ceramic surfaces and exposed to UV light causing an intense colour transformation from white to deep Prussian blue. The plant material was then removed, revealing crisp white silhouette’s of the specimens – which recalls the kind of British Jasperware that Wedgwood made its name making.

Studio Glithero undertook this project as part of their involvement in this year’s Vauxhall Collective programme in which the car manufacturer supports and encourages up and coming artists and creatives. To find out more about the Vauxhall Collective, visit its site at vauxhallcollective.co.uk/site/

Design agency LOVE in Manchester sent us the second subject of this blog post – which sees the Willow pattern (a distinctive blue-on-white pattern designed by Thomas Minton in around 1790 and used on pottey, ceramic and porcelain kitchenware and housewares – according to an entry in Wikipedia) brought bang up to date in a set of 12 mugs, ten of which are shown, above.

The idea, LOVE’s creative director Darren Hughes explains, is that the set of mugs represent China today. “Illustrated as a nod to the Chinese Willow pattern by illustrator Chris Gray of Toy, every mug tells a different story,” he tells us. “Three to four elements were illustrated specially for each mug by Chris and then repeated to create the pattern,” he continues. “The illustrated motifs were selected by looking at some of the big issues facing China and the rest of the world – such as over population, pollution, cheap labour, genetic engineering, mass production, deforestation and extinction.”

The mugs have been made in limited edition of 100 (available in boxes of 12) direct from LOVE for £49.50. Enquiries to p.skegg@lovecreative.com. Anyone fancy a brew?