When we had the pleasure of meeting her a couple of weeks ago we were delighted when Emma Bridgewater agreed to join us for a Q&A. So do leave your questions for her before Tuesday 29 March and we will send them over to her then.
Since establishing her pottery business 30 years ago, Emma’s cheerfully distinctive kitchenware has found its way onto the dresser shelves and kitchen tables of homes all over Britain and beyond. Today, Emma Bridgewater Ltd is still owned and run by Emma and her husband Matthew, who continue to contribute designs. Known for quintessentially British patterns, Emma Bridgewater pottery is manufactured in Britain, with over 200 people now employed in her factory in Staffordshire.
The early family life which inspired the Emma Bridgewater business took place round the kitchen table, and that is still the focus of Emma and Matthew’s life with their four children today. Emma received a CBE for services to industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2013 and her first book, Toast & Marmalade and Other Stories was a Sunday Times bestseller when it was published in 2014.
Her new book is Pattern (Saltyard Books). Ranging about through diverse memories - from the children's bookshelf filled with Maurice Sendak, Beatrix Potter and Ladybird books, to family holidays on the North Norfolk coast or in the Scottish Isles; from cosy Paisley eiderdowns to Mary Quant patent white boots and citrus mini-dresses, to rummaging through antique shops and market stalls for bright crocheted patchwork blankets and groovy 1960s coffee pots - Emma shares the inspirational process of design that has taken her patterns to homes across the land.
And who would risk it? (they break)
