Category Archives: Birds of Britain

Birds of Britain Mugs

September 14, 2014 Lia

There are Portmeirion mugs in many shapes and sizes

Here are the breakfast mugs:

They are the Bearded Tit, the Redpoll, the Robin, the Sedge Warbler, the Goldfinch and the Blue Tit. On the backside of the mugs are the same unnamed birds as on the egg cups:

Besides the breakfast mugs there are the 4 inch straight sided mugs:

Here are the Goldfinch, the Redpoll, the Blue Tit, the Sedge Warbler, the Linnet and the Robin.

On the back either the unnamed birds or smaller sized pictures of the usual birds, such as the Marsh Tit.

These are the Birds of America, a set of four, also occurring on plates. This is the Bobwhite Quail:

the Ruffed Grouse

the Pintail

and the Mallard

The Birds of America mugs had a feather on the backside

Birds of Britain also had bell beakers:

Here are the Greenfinch, the Great Tit, the Blue Tit, the Redpoll and the Goldfinch. On the backside the unnamed birds:

This is the only Delft Mug in my collection, with the Goldfinch

The new Botanic Birds range also has large 4 inch mugs: The Scarlet Tanager, Lesser Goldfinch, Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Chickadee, Western Bluebird and Baltimore Oriole:

With their extra flower on the inside they really look great!

Birds of Britain

Birds of Britain Egg Cups

August 17, 2014 Lia

There is a variety of footed egg cups in the Birds of Britain range:

The older ones have handpainted borders, either green…

or blue…

the newer ones have the oak leaf border:

There are six different birds on the eggcups.

Birds of Britain

Birds of Britain Platters

June 22, 2014 Lia

Osprey Platter:

The platters and large dishes in the Birds of Britain range are spectacular. This is the Little Egret, here on a 13 inch platter:

The Pheasant, 13 inch, here seen together with a trial pheasant plate:

The Barnacle Goose, 13 inch round platter, pictured in Sea Kale:

The Wood Duck on the beach:

The oval Wood Duck platter comes in two sizes, 15 and 13 inch:

The 15 inch Mute Swan:

The Fieldfare on the seashore:

The Osprey:

There are many beautiful oven dishes, platters and tureens in the Birds of Britain range, the Mute Swan, the Pheasant, the Common Sandpiper and the tureen with the smaller birds:

The Common Sandpiper is depicted on an oval dish:

The same bird can be seen on this lasagna dish, only now it is called the Snipe:

One bird, the same picture, two different names:

The outdoor pictures were taken on the beach near our home.

Birds of Britain

Portmeirionlore: Birds of Britain Plates

June 22, 2014 Lia

Like the Botanic Garden range, the Birds of Britain started out with sets of six different plates. The 11 inch dinnerplates were the Grey Phalarope, the Little Egret, the Magpie, the Harlequin Duck, the Barnowl and the Black Cock:

The Barnowl was thought to bring bad luck in some countries and was therefore withdrawn. The Black Cock was also withdrawn,”as its name was thought to discourage sales”. They were replaced by the Wood Duck and the Common Sandpiper:

The older dinnerplates have the green band, but I have two with another border, the Harlequin Duck and the Magpie:

Portmeirion also created a series of four Birds of America:

They are the Mallard, the Pintail, the Bobwhite Quail and the Ruffed Grouse. Here they have the Botanic Garden leafed border. There are more items in this short-lived range, such as a set of 4 inch mugs:

There are six different 8 inch salad plates:

They are the Waxwing, the White Wagtail, the Turtle Dove, the Roller, the Rose Coloured Starling and the Hoopoo.

I have four of these plates in the borderless variety:

Here is the Rose Coloured Starling with another border:

The 8 inch soup plates and the 6 inch bread and butter plates have the same birds:

They are the Nuthatch, the Bullfinch, the Nightingale, the Chaffinch, the Cirl Bunting and the Kingfisher.

My plates all have the old green band, later Portmeirion introduced the oak leafed border:

Except for the changes in the dinner plates, Portmeirion kept the same birds on the plates all the time. A new range of birds was introduced recently, the Botanic Garden Birds:

They are the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Chickadee, Lesser Goldfinch, Western Bluebird, and Scarlet Tanager. Lovely birds, on dinnerplates with the Botanic Garden Border.

Birds of Britain

Birds of Britain Teasets

June 22, 2014 Lia

The Birds of Britain range was launched in 1977. The illustrations are from The Natural History of Britain by Edward Donovan, 1794.This is the small teapot with six cups:

On the tea pot is the Bullfinch, the cups have the Redpoll, the Goldfinch, the Blue Tit, the Redstart, the Robin and the Willow Warbler. Here is the same set seen from the other side:

On the tea pot the Nightingale, on the cups the Linnet, the Greenfinch, the Bearded Tit, the Sedge Warbler, the Great Tit and the Marsh Tit. The larger cups have the same birds:

The bird on the tea pot is the Hoopoo. The Roller is on the other side ot the teapot:

A sugar and cream set completes the teasets. You can see the Tree Creeper, the Willow Warbler and the Goldcrest on the sugarbowls. The jug has the Bearded Tit and the Blue Tit.

There is a set of very small mocha cups:

Birds of Britain also has a beautiful jug and bowl set, with the Harlequin Duck: