This summer, we are giving you the opportunity to shop a range of our Blue Calico seconds pieces with a huge 50% discount. The unique tonal and vibrant blues of Calico are achieved by including cobalt pigment in our printing ink. In small quantities, this pigment is invisible to the naked eye until our final glaze firing, then each speck blooms into a rich, pure blue. This means that a little extra pigment on the inside of a cup, or on the back of a plate is invisible until it's indelible.
Every single piece of Burleighware is hand-decorated using the same rare, time-honoured skills of our master craftspeople. The same can also be said for our seconds pieces, which feature small, unique blemishes as they pass through the rooms at Middleport Pottery. At Burleigh, we are sticklers for perfection, meaning we would never sell any pieces that feature small, miss-daubed ink blotches at full price, marking down the almost imperceptibly imperfect ware and labelling it ‘seconds.’ In fact, our seconds offering provides a fantastic way to add to your Burleigh collection, imbuing your home with our famous quality and style for a little less.
Burleigh is proud to continue to make seconds available to our customers. Whilst we take incredible pride in creating pottery to the highest of standards and remain renowned for our luxury quality, sometimes, during the manufacturing process, imperfections may arise. Our decision to act as a guardian for traditional British craftsmanship, nurturing the next generation of skilled decorators at our pottery, means the quality of the pieces we produce isn’t predetermined in the way it might be if we relied on modern technology. The dexterity, personal commitment, and care of our artisans are manifested in our ware; each piece bears the unique touch of the decorators, from the way the pattern is applied in our first-grade pieces to the faint, dainty ink dots on our seconds ware. We will continue to make each piece, adorned with speckles of ink dots or not, available to our customers to help reduce our impact on the environment.
The History of Blue Calico
In 1968 Calico was first written into the Burleigh pattern book on 1st February as pattern no. 9086 and has been in continuous production ever since.
It began life with a visitor from America clutching a scrap of old floral fabric in one hand and a dream in the other. An agent of a US distributor, he was convinced that this old pattern he had discovered would make a great design on ceramics; he was right.
The fabric scrap inspired our designers to produce a pattern that both referenced Burleigh’s history and embraced the mood and style of the 1960’s. Inspired by 19th-century indigo fabric, Burleigh’s Blue Calico tableware range brings quintessential country charm to your home. The rich cobalt blue tones and scrolling blossom design complement both casual family dining and special occasions alike, and we have a fantastic selection of dinnerware items to choose from, ranging from a Blue Calico dinner set to a Blue Calico tea set and a selection of jugs.