About
Tony Wright started the business in 2008, coming out of retirement to help develop a specific designer product which needed technical expertise to bring it to the marketplace. The modelling and design stages were complete, but these needed to be translated into a viable end product so AW Ceramics was born!Following this success, family members Alex and Mike joined the production team and the range has expanded to include many more Designers product ranges and most recently a range of pattern, shape and colour edge homewares.
All items are made by hand in our Staffordshire workshop with traditional methods and the decoration is inspired by a mix of modern colours in a 21st century style using the vintage appeal of chintz patterns. Our handmade items are fired 4 times in total as part of the overall process.This gives the beautiful translucent quality and strength Bone China is renowned for. The chintz patterns are created as ceramic transfers which are cut and applied by hand, then a painted complimentary colour edge is added before firing for the last time at 800° C in our electric kilns to give the finished product.Alex is demonstrating the technique of casting bone china, the first stage of casting requires timing and patience, judging the right thickness of a cast is important. The quality of the casting slip is influenced by ambient temperature the amount of agitation and how long the batch has been resting, the required thickness of each article is measured by casting time this is what enables each item to reproduce the same each time.
Staffordshire is the home of Bone China (developed here in the very early 19th century by Josiah Spode) and made famous by manufacturers such as Worcester Spode, Royal Crown Derby, Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, and Mintons to name but a few.Tony Wright, the founder of AW Ceramics and inspiration behind the designs and technical expertise, has worked in the industry for over 50 years.Having worked and gained his experience in many of the pottery manufacturers mentioned above, he has learned his trade from the best to give you the highest quality bone china items to enjoy for many years.Here Mike is casting stoneware, a different slip to china, again the technique and criteria is the same as for the bone china requiring skill and patience.
Once the clay item has been cast, Christine’s role is the final fettle and sponging process of the clay piece. This process has so much influence on what the finished piece looks like. it relies on hand eye coordination finishing clayware ready for the first biscuit firing.
The choice of scented candles, poured into bone china holders is a new addition to the product range! The wax used in our scented candles is a highly refined all vegetable wax. It is made in the UK to our supplier’s own unique recipe which took over 3 years to formulate. It does not include soya or palm wax.The fragrances are created using essential oils from all over the world that are reduced down to a concentrated syrup which enables the production of a highly fragranced candle. Each of our fragrances is multi layered, containing at least 12 different oils within its makeup. Please go to our products section on the website and select each of the items for more information.
