At Denby, handcrafted is not a word we use lightly. For us the word means the hands of our super-talented and passionate craftspeople and their amazing stories of creating Denby pieces along with the amazing craft techniques which sit behind every piece. Like the ever-growing community of craftspeople throughout the UK making incredible products, Denby remains passionate about handcrafted British ceramics.
The hands behind handcrafted.
Visitors to Denby often comment that it's like 'being in the biggest studio pottery in the world'. We are not about endless volumes of plates dropping off the end of a machine production line.
At Denby, spouts are shaped, handles are attached, pots are dipped, glazes are sprayed, kilns are emptied - all by human hands. And our people have rich and interesting stories to tell about their work and why they love what they do.
The craft behind handcrafted.
The craft begins by carefully observing real lives and designing products for the way we live.
And this care continues through the design process, the magic of the glaze reactions, the unique iron-rich Derbyshire clay used, the scores of intriguingly-named pottery techniques we use (items can be fettled, jolleyed, sponged, turned and dipped!), the journey into the high temperature kilns and through to the thorough final inspection which happens to every piece before it gets the Denby backstamp of approval.
Handcrafted by 20 pairs of hands.
Take a look behind the scenes in our pottery to see where at least 20 pairs of hands craft every piece and discover the true meaning of the word handcrafted, from start to finish.
Feel-good ceramics...
For over 200 years Denby has created feel-good ceramics around which our users enjoy feel-good moments. And we don't use the words lightly.
When your ceramics are sustainably made on the same site on which the company was founded with zero process waste and every material recycled; when over 20 pairs of hands craft every piece and several generations of the same family have worked with this clay; when skilled artisans using techniques being preserved and honoured pour love and soul into every pot; when pieces are designed to meet the needs of our users and to be versatile, beautiful AND durable; when secret-recipe glazes create magical reactions in the kilns; when you use iron-rich clay sourced from a local seam for centuries to create durable, made-to-last ceramics; then that's when you get to claim you make feel-good ceramics.
...for feel-good moments.
And the feel-good moments our users enjoy? That's in the enjoyment of using stunning ceramics in your home which you know have been lovingly crafted and sustainably made; in the joy of family gatherings around impressive tableware which holds treasured memories but can still go safely in the dishwasher (or the oven, microwave or freezer for that matter); in the quiet moment with your favourite mug and a warm tea; in the pleasure of gifting something beautiful which your delighted recipient will get to enjoy for years to come; in the benefit of using one piece to do a myriad of jobs in all rooms of the house, indoors and out; in the sweet elevation of a simple takeaway or Tuesday teatime; in the smart use of a jug as a vase or a bowl as a trinket holder; and in the mind-blowing way in which food served on Denby just-tastes-better.
These are the feel-good moments Denby exists to create. Feel-good ceramics for feel-good moments. There's nothing quite like Denby.
Sustainably made.
At Denby, we have been crafting versatile, beautiful and durable made-to-last ceramics for over 200 years on the same site in Derbyshire, England, always subscribing to the ethos of ‘buy well, buy once’.
We are proudly the first UK tableware manufacturer to be able to claim ‘zero to landfill’ for all our process waste and are always looking for ways to lessen our environmental impact.