Pattern: & the secrets of lasting design

'No one understands pattern and design quite like Emma. This gem of a book celebrates her passion for British ceramics, her beautiful design and joyful patterns.' Kirstie Allsopp

Creativity, collaboration, inspiration

Emma Bridgewater's patterns are as quintessentially British as marmalade on toast - and they have made her distinctive homewares best sellers across the world.

Her inspiration is often deeply personal - a plate of her mother's, a favourite children's book - and as she tells the stories of each pattern's creation, she reveals the intricate processes of research and collaboration behind the familiar designs she has stamped on our kitchenware - and our hearts - for the past thirty years.

Each pattern comes with a 'serving suggestion': a favourite recipe from Emma's family cookbook that will look deliciously at home on your Polka Dot plate or in your Dancing Mouse bowl.

And collectors and students of design will revel in the complete, illustrated Emma Bridgewater Pattern Index.

Both an entrancing trip down memory lane and a behind-the-scenes look at a thriving creative business, Emma Bridgewater's PATTERN is essential reading for anyone who has ever turned over their mug after draining their tea and wondered about the human story behind that proud declaration: Made in Stoke-on-Trent, England...

Emma Bridgewater established her successful pottery business in 1985. She found a manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent to produce a range of mugs, jugs and teapots inspired by traditional shapes and spongeware designs. She now employs over 230 people and continues to make all her ceramics in Staffordshire, the historic home of pottery manufacture in Britain. Emma is married with four children and lives outside Oxford, where she was brought up.

Follow Emma on Twitter: @EmmaBridgewater www.emmabridgewater.co.uk