We love people to visit and get a real feel for the place and where it all comes from. Even the clay we use is Irish! Our love of Irish craft has been a huge motivation in building our own range of tableware and homeware. Beautiful, strong and functional, each of our pieces offers a glimpse of our corner of Ireland, that you can hold in your hands and that shines out from your shelves.
Nick: "From my point of view of working firstly with shapes and solid forms, I’ve always enjoyed the contours and proportions of this traditional Irish spongeware, so while I’ve always worked with clay I’ve collected pottery too. The paired down shapes and clean lines of the surface decoration and overall patterns work very well with the shapes to make a plate, bowl or jug will truly sing. Elements of this approach and the simplicity of these objects feeds into the distinctive and fresh designs we produce at Nicholas Mosse Pottery."
Susan: "Exactly, yes, we’ve always got a lot from looking at those pieces and thinking about how to move it along with our own designs. Also, as a botanical artist, I am naturally drawn to the flowers growing in my garden and in the wild, in the verges and meadows, to create the motifs you see on our pottery: roses, forget-me-nots, fuchsias, amongst others, and of course, being Ireland, clover. Animals have also found their way in and many an Irish sheep grazes on our pottery. We’re incredibly lucky to have a wealth of inspiration immediately around us in Bennettsbridge, in rural Kilkenny."
Nick: "When we were starting out, we were also lucky that at the time there was government support for Irish crafts, to help small businesses promote themselves and gain exposure at home and abroad. That legacy shows today in the wealth of makers and craftspeople working close by in our area and everyone in our talented team at the mill. It’s a real community, a hub of creativity."
Susan: "We find our customers are a great community too. We’re thrilled when they tell us they can feel the care and skill of the many hands (20 pairs in all!) that have shaped and meticulously decorated each piece. In a world where so much is mass-produced, it’s quite rare and precious to sense this human energy coming through in functional household objects. Rest assured, our hand-crafted pottery is made to be perfectly functional – our mugs keep your coffee hot and our teapots don’t drip!"
Nick: "Actually, going back to the collecting, I have to admit it doesn’t stop at pottery but includes furniture, glassware and different textiles. All these disciplines talk to and reflect each other so it’s impossible not to be distracted by them all. If I come across something that’s beautifully designed and exceptionally made it’s very hard to resist. Luckily the old mill is wonderfully capacious and accommodates our ever-expanding needs so that much of the collection is on display in our Irish Country Shop."
Susan: "Of course, everything we make is here online too, so if you can’t make it to the mill in person you can explore all that we create right here, and even watch our artisans in action as they shape, finesse and decorate each piece by hand. We hope our pottery will be part of your daily lives and play a role in those occasions and treasured memories that make a house a home."
