The bowl have is part of the Portmeirion Birds of Britain collection, which has a fascinating history rooted in both 18th-century natural history illustration and 20th-century ceramic design.
Susan Williams-Ellis: The “Birds of Britain” pattern was conceived by renowned ceramic designer Susan Williams-Ellis, who was the co-founder of Portmeirion Pottery.
- Launch Year: She originally came up with the idea in 1974, and the full range officially launched in 1978 (the date stamped on your piece), though it had an exclusive early release in 1977.
- Inspiration Source: The beautiful and detailed illustrations of the birds were taken from the book The Natural History of British Birds, which was written and illustrated by Edward Donovan (E. Donovan), an Anglo-Irish naturalist and artist.
Production Period: The collection was produced from 1977/1978 and was generally discontinued around 1997, though special orders were sometimes available until 2002.
The “Additional information” section lists the dimensions/parameters for calculating shipping cost, not the item’s actual weight.
