Time for a splendid lunch in the garden...? Today we are looking at this stunning dessert service. In the early 1900s there were as many of 300 potteries in Staffordshire alone, and many are not very well known. One pottery that deserves a lot more attention than it usually gets is Machin. Machin & Co was in operation between 1812 and 1830 and made lots of pottery (earthenware) and also very high quality porcelain. As this was not a very long period and they didn't mark their

Happy Easter everyone! I've been laying low a bit while dealing with covid (thankfully the vaccine did its job so I am fine) but with the beginning of the first real spring weather here in the UK, I am springing back to work myself. And this Easter, I have some very special things to show. So let's talk about the elephant in the room... quite literally. I came across this wonderful tea service not long ago and was lucky enough to get it onto my shelf, and am thrilled to offer

It's all about collecting in this new May issue of Homes & Antiques, and of course they asked me to write about my own collection. So I thought this is the perfect moment to write about the interesting story of my grandmother, and how she inspired me to start a porcelain business (and collection of course), even without me realising it. I've written about my grandmother's collection here on this blog a few years ago, but now you can read all about it in more detail in the new

A while ago I was very lucky to come across a garniture of three Ridgway vases from about 1810-1815. They immediately caught my eye, as apart from the fact that they are of course stunning, they looked familiar. Once I had received them and I saw the remains of a collection mark on the underside of the middle one, I realised why: they had belonged to Sir Geoffrey Godden, the well respected porcelain expert who wrote dozens of books on porcelain. In fact, the middle vase is on