Portmeirion China or is it Pottery or even Porcelain..?

Portmeirion China is a term often used by customers to describe Portmeirion Pottery, Does the use of the word China matter, if we all know what we are talking about?, do we need to correct ourselves and insist on using the world Pottery to describe Portmeirion Dinnerware or Cookware? In day to day use probably not, when a customer asks me for Portmeirion Botanic Garden China I know what they mean but if they ask for just Portmeirion China I sometimes have to think twice as Portmeirion did make a range of China in the 1990s and it was something completely different. Portmeirion dishes is too broad a term for me to know which dish but Gratin Dish and the rest is simple.

What is China and why is it different to Pottery?

To start with we need to consider the generic terms used to describe most tableware or giftware. The broadest term generally used is Ceramics. The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word Kepkueikoc (the name of a suburb of Athens), and in its strictest sense refers to clay in all its forms. However, modern usage of the term
broadens the meaning to include all inorganic non-metallic materials. Therefore both China and Pottery are Ceramics. If we narrow the definition then we find that China and Pottery, although related under the same Ceramic umbrella, are in fact quite different.
Pottery is a form of ceramics technology, where wet clays are shaped and then dried or fired to harden them. The term is generally used only for relatively easily constructed utensils such as pots, cups, bowls, etc .Generically Portmeirion dishes such as items in the Portmeirion Dinnerware or Portmeirion Serving Pieces collections are good examples. Porcelain is the more correct term for China and is a specific kind of pottery, made of kaolin and feldspar, producing a hard white pottery when fired at high temperatures. It is also called China, because the first porcelain was imported to Europe from there by the Dutch in the 17th Century. European porcelain was invented by Mr. Boettger in the employ of the Elector of Saxony in 1710 at Meissen on the Elbe River.
The Meissen factory is the oldest in Europe and continues to make lots of porcelain. The key difference between Pottery and Porcelain, or China, is that porcelain is translucent when held up to a light. pottery is not.

Portmeirion China

Portmeirion China was launched in February 1994. It was a revolutionary re-think of the traditional recipe for English Bone China. It contained no animal bone and yet had the major advantages of bone china being very white and translucent, of oven to table quality and highly resistant to chipping. Portmeirion's designers initially developed five new designs for Susan's new shape Moonstone. These were: Ladies' Flower Garden (1994-2000), Summer Garland (1994-1999), Ancestral Jewel (1994-1999), Welsh Wild Flowers (1994-2000) and Moonstone Gold (1994-1995).

Ladies Flower Garden

Derived from a book of the same name by Mrs Loudon, c1842, a total of 18 bouquets of flowers were chosen for this 1994 design and arranged by Susan and her daughter Anwyl. The beautiful hand-coloured original illustrations were meticulously reproduced in 21 colours. The range consisted of Tableware and Giftware

Summer Garland

A collection of some of the favourite flower motifs from Portmeirion's well known Botanic Garden pattern are woven into a luxuriant wreath. The range covered Dinnerware, Giftware and Serving Pieces

Welsh Wild Flowers

The very detailed, botanically accurate watercolours of Welsh hillside flowers by Angharad Menna, are carefully arranged on the china dinnerware and Giftware.

Ancestral Jewel

Designed by Anwyl Cooper-Willis and inspired by ancient Celtic jewellery, this 1994 pattern has a richness which contrasts with the floral designs.

Moonstone

Hand finishing with a simple band of 22 carat gold, was used with great effect to show the beauty of the Moonstone shape. However, the high production cost could not be justified and within 12 months the design had been withdrawn.