From a series of plates that, when arranged correctly, make up a human skeleton (titled ‘supermodel’), to anatomically correct bone china hearts with gold plated valves; what makes The New English different smacks you right between the eyes. They’ve been described as ‘the Vivienne Westwood of tableware’ and I think that’s about right.
I discovered them in a rabbit warren of faux Victorian rooms at last year’s Designersblock – part of the London Deign Festival – and haven’t stopped thinking about them since. Their macabre, slightly unsettling aesthetic just stays with you somehow.
Describing themselves as “the new movement in collaborative ceramics design,” they work with designers from disciplines as diverse as fashion and architecture, with product designers, artists and even a lingerie designer!
They’re heavily involved creative education programmes and marry fresh blood with old hands to create the perfect balance of new ideas and experience.
The results speak for themselves. Production is in Stoke-on-Trent using the finest bone china, putting the ‘English’ in The New English. And with ranges inspired by everything from Alice in Wonderland to Victorian taxidermy, there’s something for everyone… well, if you like that sort of thing.
