2010 is a very important year for Portmeirion as it celebrates its 50^th birthday. For half a century, Portmeirion has been delighting the world with tableware designs that are as innovative and imaginative as they are beautiful.

Taking direct inspiration from the original designs of the legendary designer and founder of Portmeirion Potteries, Susan Williams-Ellis, Portmeirion have introduced the Portmeirion Originals collection -  a perfect tribute to Susan's iconic designs and the innovative techniques she used to revolutionise the casual dining market in the 1960s and 70s.

The Portmeirion Originals collection includes stunning, beautifully gift boxed mugs, a vase, coffee pot and soup tureen, all made in England. Information about each of the designs follows.

Malachite

After Susan's studies of the semi-precious mineral Malachite in London's National History museum in the 1950s, Susan designed a furnishing fabric for the hotel in Portmeirion Village. In 1959 she had the fabric design made into transfer sheets for ceramics to reproduce the design on her pottery. Using these Malachite transfers, Susan created a sumptuous range of richly gilded ornamental pieces that she introduced in 1960.

Portmeirion have reproduced the malachite Soup Tureen which is hand-painted in 22 carat gold - a limited edition of 50, this Malachite Soup Tureen is a truly beautiful piece.

Dolphin

Dolphin was one of the very first designs Susan created for Portmeirion Village's gift shop, the Ship Shop, and the Portmeirion shop in Pont Street, London, in 1959. Originally produced with a lustre finish, Dolphin was an instant success and later featured 8 different plain coloured backgrounds. It was originally manufactured at a small factory in Stoke-on-Trent called Gray's which Susan later bought - the first steps in creating her pottery empire.

The Portmeirion Originals Dolphin mug features this striking design and comes in a gift box inspired by one of Susan's packaging designs in the 1970s from the collection 'A year to Remember'. 

Totem

Originally launched in 1963, Totem propelled Portmeirion's pottery into stardom and is now considered to be a design icon of the 1960s. It created a sensation - Totem was different; nothing like it had been seen before. Not only did Totem have a striking, cylindrical shape, it had a fantastically tactile body featuring stars and spirals that Susan had carved by hand directly into the mould. Highly collectable, Totem is found in museums and homes across the globe.

The Portmeirion Originals Totem mug features this striking and tactile design and comes in a gift box inspired by one of Susan's packaging designs in the 1970s from the collection 'A Year to Remember'.

Variations

Launched in 1964, Variations was one of Susan's favourite designs and one that she was most proud of. The design evolved from Susan's interest in textile design and the idea that a sheet transfer could be cut to fit a variety of shapes whether mug, plate, coffee pot or storage jar. Because the Variations transfer could be cut at any point to fit a shape, it was very unlikely that any 2 pieces would be quite the same, hence the name Variations.

The Portmeirion Originals Variations mug features this striking design and comes in a gift box inspired by one of Susan's packaging designs in the 1970s from the collection 'A Year to Remember'.
 

Magic City

Introduced in 1966, Magic City was an incredibly popular tableware design and to this day is eagerly collected. Depicting scenes of colourful dome-topped buildings, statues and fireworks, set against a dark background, it was inspired by Susan's travels and her knowledge or experience of past and present cultures.

The Portmeirion Originals Magic City mug features this striking design and comes in a gift box inspired by one of Susan's packaging designs in the 1970s from the collection 'A Year to Remember'. 

Magic Garden

Magic Garden followed on from the success of Magic City and was launched four years later in 1970. The design is based on a wonderfully weird and enchanting garden scene featuring tropical birds, dragon flies and magical snails in hues of blues and greens. 

The Portmeirion Originals Magic Garden mug features this striking design and comes in a gift box inspired by one of Susan's packaging designs in the 1970s from the collection 'A Year to Remember'. 

Magic Garden Graphite

Whilst delving into Portmeirion's past, searching through dark, cobwebbed cellars and rooms that hadn't been opened in years, we discovered an incredible and unique archive piece. Now, Susan's original hand-pencilled coffee pot prototype for Magic Garden takes pride of place in Portmeirion's archive. This coffee pot inspired us to create a stunning coffee pot and mug that replicates her pencilled design.

This shape hasn't been decorated in our factory for over 30 years but is now back to celebrate Portmeirion's half century.