Brixton Pottery

Brixton Pottery is designed by Alex and Tania Dufort from their rural retreat in Mid Wales. Tania and Alex started designing in 1987, and have so far accumulated a portfolio of about 500 spongeware designs, and 60 pottery shapes, making a total of 30,000 possible products. The technique of spongeware most probably originated in Crete 4,000 years ago and remains mostly unchanged over the years. Fine root sponges are used and carefully cut into floral, leaf and geometric shapes. They are then dipped in coloured oxides, and applied to the biscuit (unfired) pottery before being glaze and fired. Sponge decoration could be applied to all sizes and shapes of pottery, and allowed factories to decorate individual pieces without having to have bespoke transfer engravings for each piece. This technique is also used by many potteries in the Staffordshire ceramics industry, including Emma Bridgewater and Portmeirion.