Designing the English dream

- written by Anya

If somebody asked you to close your eyes and imagine life in the English countryside, I’m pretty sure you’d picture Feldspar. Thatched cottage: tick. Rolling countryside: tick. Gallons of tea brewed to perfection in a one-of-a-kind teapot: tick.

For Cath and Jeremy Brown, setting up a design brand was never part of the plan. When the couple found themselves in their new, and very empty, home – a 400-year-old Devon longhouse in Dartmoor, south-west England – they did what every normal couple would do (note the sarcasm here) and set about crafting their own wares. Fast forward a couple of years and, even though Feldspar has become a household name, the same modest principles apply now as they did then. Feldspar is not interested in creating products for the sake of it. Functionality, usefulness and longevity are always at the forefront of their minds.

Together the couple drink a lot of tea so the addition of a teapot to Feldspar’s collection was going to happen sooner rather than later: think of it more as a necessity than an indulgence. “We mainly design things that we are missing, or can’t find anywhere,” says Cath. “We find many teapots frustrating – the way they spill even before you’ve lifted them up.” It is the teapot’s elongated spout that first catches your eye. From the angle at which it leans to the curve of its tip, each and every element of the spout has been considered in order to perfect the pour. Like most of the British public, Cath and Jeremy are not fans of wasting good tea. With the Feldspar teapot there is not a single runaway dribble.

To match Feldspar’s existing collection of tea and coffee cups, the teapot is available in both cobalt blue and gold – the subtle variation in colour seen on the two handles of the pot. Hand painted by Cath and Jeremy, the finish of the cobalt blue is deliberately rustic, with the traces of brushstrokes adding to the charm. For the gold version, the process is more show-off: 22k gold (yes, really) is suspended in a liquid medium and then painted onto the glazed china.

Over the last six months, Cath and Jeremy have been experimenting with materials found, quite literally, on their doorstep. By extracting clay from their back garden – a combination of terracotta and china clay with a distinctive, fiery orange hue –  the studio has also been able to create a new collection of handcrafted thin-walled mugs, all designed, prototyped and manufactured in the one location.

The mugs (and what is teapot-brewed tea without mugs?) will be available to purchase at feldspar.studio from mid-June, with the teapot gracing shop shelves a few weeks later. I dare you to resist.