I’m still hooked on porcelain and I’m thinking I always will be. Looking back I think the obsession began when I was living in NYC right around the corner from ABC Carpet & Home. I used to go in and wander around the first floor looking at jewelry and stopping by their little shops within the shop. That’s where I saw Jan Burtz’s Bella Porcelain.
I never bought any because I was on a pretty serious budget but also because it seemed so delicate that I thought surely I would break it. Jan makes her pieces with traditional hand building out of rolled out slabs of porcelain. They are so thin and light. I know they’re dishwasher safe so quite durable and yet, they are so dainty!
Her glazes are also very pleasing, made carefully from home recipes. The colors are never too overpowering and it seems like some of the porcelain is always allowed to shine through.
We’re currently trying to figure out what to put on our mantle. It’s about 7 feet long and a foot wide so it’s quite a lot of space. Flowers in these bud vases would be beautiful though I’ve been entertaining starting a pitcher collection like my mom’s – but all white.
The place setting reminds me of a vacation we once took as a family. We were somewhere in the Caribbean and my parents fell in love with a set of dishes and platters. They carried them back to the States and they are plates and things we only use on very very special occasions. I can remember the day the platter got chipped with a knife that was going through some very hard icing…it was the chip heard round the world. I’d feel that way with this dishware too!
So beautiful! When I was in NYC a few weeks ago I popped into ABC, which looks very different I feel like and there was a whole section devoted to her pieces with the option to have them glazed with the color of your choice. Custom Bella Porcelain – what could be better?
Tags: delicate, hand built, porcelain, pottery, products, slip glaze