History & The Future in a Bowl

What do American slave cotton plantations, 1960's prairie dresses, the industrial revolution, Kerala, Burberry and Staffordshire pottery have in common you may well ask?

A lot, is the answer!

This lovely bowl is Burleigh's iconic Blue Calico pattern which began manufacturing in February 1968 and has remained in continuous production ever since. The pattern’s direct origins are in American calico which inspired the Burleigh designers to produce a pattern that both referenced Burleigh’s history and embraced the mood and style of the 1960’s.

The evolution of the bowl’s pattern and design however provides a fascinating insight into the history of both the cotton and pottery industries in Great Britain which rose to prominence in the Midlands during the Industrial Revolution and continued right up until WW2. Both these industries have had a profound and lasting impact on British industrial design and culture and are at the very core of political and government policy still to this day.

Calico fabric originated in Calicut in Kerala, India and was imported to Europe in the late 1600s by the English and Dutch East India Companies. This sparked a major fashion revolution as the fabric was light and easy to wash, and held incredibly vibrant, fade-resistant dyes that European textile makers could not replicate. Calico’s immense popularity quickly became a threat to domestic textile industries in Europe which heavily undercut local wool, silk, and linen weavers and in 1700 and 1721, the British Parliament passed the protectionist ‘Calico Acts’ which banned the import and even the wearing of printed or dyed calicoes.

The industrial revolution changed everything however when automated spinning frames and steam-powered weaving looms could suddenly mass-produce printed cotton at a fraction of the cost of Indian handlooms. From the early 1800’s the fabric was exported all round the world and in particular to the New World where the cheap, mass-produced printed calicoes were used by American pioneers for everyday dresses, quilts, and aprons.

The revival of calico pattern popularity in the late 1960s was driven by a major counterculture ‘back-to-nature’ movement after a long run of post-war industrialisation and the harsh realities of the Vietnam and Cold Wars. Against this backdrop there was a rapid generational split, the ‘Youthquake’ and a shift towards nostalgia, romanticism, and rural simplicity. Designers like Laura Ashley channelled Victorian and prairie style romantic, floaty dresses made out of calico and cheesecloth and this design trend spread over into homeware amongst other things.

While the Burleigh Calico pattern itself was designed in 1968, it was manufactured at Middleport Pottery, Burleigh’s home since 1889, using an unbroken chain of Victorian infrastructure. This included using hand engraved copper rollers and tissue paper transfers. By varying the physical depth of the cuts in the copper, Burleigh could create the rich, bleeding cobalt tones which gives Calico its distinctive, "imperfect" depth and authentic nostalgic look and feel, ensuring a continuity of heritage which is both functional, valuable and aesthetically pleasing.

The English Staffordshire ceramics sector has been floundering in recent times, with rising costs and falling sales leading to historic names such as Royal Stafford and Heraldic Pottery collapsing. Burleigh's parent firm Denby went into adminsitration in March 2026 after struggling with increased energy and labour costs. Shortly afterwards a consortium led by Christopher Bailey Woods, former creative director of Burberry, invested in Burgess & Leigh, the company which produces Burleigh, and is committed to turning it around and preserving both jobs and the historic cultural legacy of English pottery. Collaborations with Daylesford in a new Geranium pattern especially designed by Burleigh for Daylesford have already been launched and we can hopefully expect to see a re-imagined industry slowly come to the fore again as the UK's new Prime Minister promises to invest in re-industrialisation in the UK's legacy industries.

And you thought it was just a pretty blue and white bowl eh?