Handmade in England

Look closely at the sides of the delicately hued tiles created by Craven Dunnill Jackfield for trend-setters House of Hackney and you’ll find fingermarks breaking up the colour, evidence of the maker who held the tile as they expertly hand-dipped it in a wash of colour.

It is this careful human process that imbues each tile with its beautiful graduation of colour. This, when placed on a wall, gives a subtle sense of movement and a tactility that a machine cannot replicate – and it is just one small example of why such exceptional hand-made pieces are enjoying a renaissance in our homes.

Craven Dunnill Jackfield has been making tiles in its Shropshire factory since 1872 – the oldest surviving purpose-built tile factory in the world. It is one of a number of brands whose handcrafted skills are once more widely appreciated. No longer are sleek designer pieces considered the only expression of luxury – and today it is those crafted by hand, whether it be a statement dining table or even a mug for a cup of tea, that are perhaps the most special.

For House of Hackney, working with Craven Dunnill Jackfield was about “creating future heirlooms, which is at the very heart of what we do”, says co-founder Frieda Gormley.

“We’ve seen a real uplift and a huge appetite for more authenticity and provenance, which our tiles represent,” adds Simon Howells, managing director at Craven Dunnill Jackfield. “People have had far too much fast production, fast food and fast fashion. Now there’s a move away from conveyor-belt products and a yearning for inherently timeless ones like ours.”

The pandemic had a role to play. “We have spent so much more time at home over recent years, this has given us an opportunity to reassess our priorities, to really understand what’s important. That has informed the way we consume and what we choose to surround ourselves with,” says Hollie Moreland, creative director at Cotswold-based David Hunt Lighting.

The lighting company traces its lineage back to the 1700s as candle-makers in Birmingham. Today, it combines old and new technologies to create stylish lighting, particularly in resin, the lamps utilising a secret casting technique developed by David Hunt in the 1950s. “A product can go through as many as 12 pairs of hands, each skilled in a different technique, before it is finished,” says Moreland. “For me, craftsmanship is about quality, creating unique detail and passion. It’s about preserving artisanal techniques, and sharing them with a new generation.”

Luxury interior designers David Collins Studio regularly commission hand-crafted pieces. “With every project we create, we want to produce an interior that looks and feels wonderful, but also instils a sense of place,” says associate director Siobhan Kelly. “Collaborating with skilled craftspeople who can deepen that layer of detail is a key part of how we achieve this.

“For a recent show apartment near Hyde Park in London, we commissioned bespoke furniture designer Sebastian Cox to deliver the dining table, which he crafted from a felled plane tree sourced from a site by the park. This can be viewed from the windows of the building, strengthening the connection between the interior of the apartment and the park itself.”

The joy of fine craftsmanship is what prompted Cath and Jeremy Brown to give up their careers in 2016 – she as an architect, he with the UN – to create Feldspar, makers of bone-china crockery in slightly wonky yet pleasingly elegant shapes that are now stocked around the world.

Working from their studio in a former barn near their Dartmoor home, the self-taught pair use the traditional method of slip casting, which entails pouring liquid clay into multipart plaster moulds – a craft that is listed as critically endangered by the Heritage Crafts Association in the UK. “It’s a labour-intensive process – from slip to shelf, it takes two weeks for a piece to be ready,” says Cath Brown. “But as well as keeping heritage skills alive, we’re making pieces that have personality, will last and be treasured for years to come.”

Pictures from top: House of Hackney x Craven Dunnill Jackfield tiles in a blush kitchen; creating the tiles by hand is a delicate process; handmade scallop lampshades by David Hunt Lighting; delicate porcelain Feldspar jug and lemon juicer