Left Continue shopping
Your Order

You have no items in your cart

Free Shipping | 30-Day Money Back

Blog / Ardmore Ceramics

How to throw the best tea party ever? Invite a Hyena!

If you want your guests to "tell the story" about the best tea party they ever attended, invite a Hyena to your table.

We've long been fans of Alice in Wonderland and all the fantastical teapots and cups that made their way to The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, so it wasn't a stretch for us to whoop with delight when we spied this.

 

Hand crafted with remarkable skill in The Ardmore Ceramics Studio, this Hyena is an heirloom quality piece that will be in your family for generations to come.
Shop Ardmore

THE ARTISAN

We think the painter of this bespoke ceramic teapot, Fiko Mfphusi has an astounding eye for colour and detail. Since 2002, Fiko has worked on a variety of Ardmore Ceramics, being mentored by Punch Shabalala (a leading Ardmore painter), whose footsteps Fiko aspires to follow. Fiko's work has been shown in every Ardmore exhibition since 2004. And again, what a family affair?! Fiko is one of three sisters who work together in the painting studio! We think Fiko's
painting is a beautiful contribution to this lovely piece.
 

MADE BY HAND

Often inspired by wildlife, Ardmore Ceramics have been exhibited in leading galleries and collections around the world, including The Museum of Art & Design in New York and The Museum of Cultures in Basel (Switzerland). Ardmore's modern art style breaks ceramic conventions, using techniques resulting from years of experimentation with materials and processes. The vibrant colours and enormous attention to detail are simply superb. If you are an aficionado of ceramics or of unique artworks, take the time to explore our Ardmore Collection. We guarantee it will produce a smile! Learn more about Ardmore Ceramics and their talented artisans - watch this short video.
Ardmore Ceramics have been featured in a wide variety of publications including House & Leisure, Garden & Home, Condé Nast House & Garden, Living, Art Times, Country Life, Sunday Times Style, Elle Decor, Oprah's O and Wallpaper Magazine (just to name a few).

Subscribe to Zawadee Newsletter
AFRICAN HYENAS 

Sadly depicted as scavengers, hyenas are actually skillful hunters. Hyenas are widespread and found in most habitats. Spotted hyenas are found in all habitats, including savannas, grasslands, woodlands, forest edges, subdeserts, and even mountains up to 13,000 ft. As human populations expand and growth of agriculture, settlements, and roads results, wildlife is losing space in which it was previously able to roam freely.

 

Hyena's traditionally get a bad rap! Visit Mental Floss to learn. 

12 Wild Facts About Hyenas
Read more

Got To Go There - The Magic of the KwaZulu Natal

The KwaZulu Natal is about as eclectic a place as you can find. That's part of what makes it so interesting.

Rough and magical, smart and sophisticated, rural and urban, the KwaZulu Natal is a symphony of differences. Shabby suburbs nestled cheek to cheek with upscale malls. Beautiful beaches contrast with dramatic mountains and dry savannahs. African life beats a vigorous counterpoint in markets to the quieter and more pastoral settings in the rural areas.

"KwaZulu means place of the Zulu"
 

Known as the "garden province" of South Africa, it was created very recently. In 1994, the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu merged with Natal province. Boasting a long shoreline along the Indian Ocean, the province borders Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho. Beaches are well known to be world-class quality. 

Many notable figures of South Africa were born in the KwaZulu Natal. Albert Luthuli was the first non-white person (as well as the first person from outside Europe and the Americas) to win the Nobel Peace Prize (1960). Bhambatha was a 19th century Zulu chief who became an anti-apartheid icon. The province is home to two Unesco World Heritage sites - the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park.

 

The KwaZulu Natal is home to the Zulu monarchy and the majority of the population and the language is Zulu. The monarch is King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu. Although the Zulu monarchy has no direct political power, the king holds considerable influence on the more traditional Zulu population. Interestingly, a ceremony is performed every year, adding another wife in marriage to the king.

This was actually a method for creating connections among the various peoples! The ceremony is called the "Reed Dance". The current king has not added any new wives recently as he promotes abstinence until marriage as a way of both preserving Zulu culture and preventing the spread of HIV. Game reserves abound. Bird watching, elephant and hippo sighting, white rhinos, giraffes - the province is teeming with fascinating flora and fauna!

The Hluhluwe Umfolosi Game Reserve seems to be a bit of a "one stop shop" for those wishing to observe African animals. Home to the "Big Five" (elephant, buffalo, lion, rhino and leopard), the Hluhluwe Umfolosi is also a great place to spot prolific birdlife.

This prestigious reserve is famous for bringing the White Rhino numbers back from extinction and continued advances in setting benchmarks in conservation. Through careful management, the rhinos have multiplied and are exported to other reserves.

Elephants at Hluhluwe Umfolosi Game Reserve 

The Ardmore Collection

On Springvale Farm, located in the KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), a most astounding art studio is found. Ardmore Ceramics has been acknowledged by the acclaimed auction house - Christie's - as producers of "modern day collectibles". Styled in an exuberant, exotic (even, may we say, whimsical style), the ceramics produced by this remarkable atelier are superb examples of design and craftsmanship. Often inspired by wildlife, Ardmore Ceramics have been exhibited in leading galleries and collections around the world, including The Museum of Art & Design in New York and The Museum of Cultures in Basel (Switzerland). Ardmore's modern art style breaks ceramic conventions, using techniques resulting from years of experimentation with materials and processes. The vibrant colours and enormous attention to detail are simply superb! 
Shop Ardmore Ceramics
Read more

Ceramics with an African Flair - The Ardmore Collection

From Capodimonte to Hummel to Lladro to Wedgwood, the world does not suffer from a lack of fine pottery. These venerable manufacturers produce modern collectibles in signature styles. Is there room for yet another manufacturer, another source, a new style? Zawadee believes that the verve and whimsy of it ranks with the settled elegance and the studied cuteness of other famous manufacturers. The magic of pottery lies in its ability to remain useful as well as decorative and to explore a variety of shapes and express myriad motifs. Ceramics combines decorative qualities with utility. Located in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, the artisans who create masterpieces that draw inspiration from the dramatic environment that includes beaches, mountains, and savannah populated by big game. The region’s northeast is home to rhinoceroses, lions, and giraffes. Colorful traditions of native peoples, such as the Zulu tribes, also add inspiration!

 The Origin Of South African Art

Art in South Africa goes back 4,000 years to dramatic cave paintings created by the hunter-gatherer societies that populated the region until displaced by colonialists in the 1800s. Artistic appreciation took a distinctly European turn in the early colonial era as artists painted and sculpted their visions of the newly discovered territories replete with exotic flora, fauna, and people. That European influence continued into the 20th century with Cubism, Impressionism, and Expressionism that ranged from cool, serene, and distant to bold, vivid, and personal. Art in the latter half of the 20th century adopted a more intimate focus, and Western society largely ignored native artists. Even the European-born and classically trained artists who brought their Western ideals to South Africa could not escape the impact of African forms on their creations. The melding of European craftsmanship with African verve and motifs created a distinctly exotic, exuberant, graceful, and even whimsical style that finds wide acceptance and appreciation today.

Natural Forms

South African art echoes the plants and animals indigenous to the continent’s sub-Saharan expanses; it pays homage to nature and the earth from which the raw materials of pottery come. Much of it favors visual abstraction, which applies well to the design practical objects, such at pitchers and platters and candlesticks. As dramatic and bold as the continent itself, it captures attention with fluid forms, bold colors, and rhythmic patterns....

Shop Ardmore

 

The patterns found in nature and in everyday life make their home in the ceramic bowls, jugs, vases, platters, and other objects produced by the Ardmore Studio. Glazes draw the eye with lush color and expressive detail while pottery molded into realistic or fanciful shapes add fluidity and energy to the finished hard forms. Until one sees the incorporation of these shapes and patterns, one cannot understand how natural forms apply to our lives.  

Subscribe to Zawadee Newsletter

Read more