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Pottery firm Burleigh has revealed that by far the largest orders for its limited edition commemoratives to mark the Queen’s 90th birthday have gone to Japan.
Burleigh creative director Steven Moore (who is also a ceramics expert on BBC1’s ‘Antiques Roadshow’) said: “I’ve always known that the Japanese love Burleigh and the UK, but I didn’t think that they were going to be such big fans of our Queen too. We are delighted to help celebrate this milestone in Japan.”
The Stoke-on-Trent company has created limited editions of 500 special commemorative cups and saucers and 1,000 mugs. Each has its own certificate, which is numbered and signed by the decorator. The pieces are presented in specially commissioned gift boxes which, like all Burleigh products, are handmade in England.
The design of the pieces is based on two designs from Burleigh’s archive. The ‘EIIR’ cypher is taken from a design originally produced for the Coronation in 1953 and the border is from a design called ‘Cameo’, introduced in 1951.
These original designs had to be re-engraved, which was done in house by Burleigh’s master engraver Christopher Glendinning: the last working engraver in the pottery industry.
Burleigh managing director Sebastian Lazell added; “Burleigh has a long tradition of making royal commemoratives and it’s fascinating to think that the clay used to make these pieces was mixed in the same machines that created the clay for Her Majesty’s great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee; a unique lineage.”
The Queen is due to spend her birthday on Thursday April 21 at Windsor Castle. She will then go a walkabout with the Duke of Edinburgh to meet members of the public.
The cup and saucer retails in the UK for £45 and the mug for £25
