This project was originally undertaken for John Lewis following a ‘jolt’ of inspiration that I found in the glass gallery at the V&A.

As I wandered through the history of European glassmaking through the ages I came across several examples of this exquisite technique and was charmed by the name ‘Cottontwist’ which seemed so apt.

It took a while to track down a studio that could still master the process but eventually we managed to locate a brilliant team of craftsmen in Transylvania and I had the best time discovering that beautiful part of the world and putting into practise my vision.

As it happens a real commercial hit for John Lewis too, so over to you to select your pleasure – Champagne, Red wine, Martini, Sherry or Water as you prefer…?!

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Glassblowing as an art form and an amazingly choreographed ‘dance’ is a wonderful thing to watch. I have spent many hours in glass workshops in Stourbridge, Broxbourne, Torrington, Ulverston, Dungannon, Waterford, Krakow, Budapest, Bucharest…and Prague!

My time visiting Prague has been a joy and on one such visit I discovered the magical ‘Mercury Glass’ that is a traditional technique going back to the early days of Murano.

I loved the intensively reflective quality that is achieved and how this electrified different colours such as cobalt blue, so I decided to create a collection that teamed simple modernist shapes with the energy of the technique to produce a series of show-stopping bowls and vases.

We had a real commercial hit on our hands once they were launched and to top it off the collection made it into The Sheffield Millennium Gallery and the V&A Museum…

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I love the 1930s period of English ceramics when factories such as Poole Pottery achieved a perfection in their colour palette and a poise in their shapes that in my opinion has never been bettered.

When John Lewis asked me to design ceramics for them I therefore drew on those roots and presented them with the concept of a celebration of a distinctly English style which we made in the thinnest, lightest porcelain just like in days of old.

My wife Ali created the colourways so 2 Tone (with a nod to the music of my youth) was a true marriage of shape and colour.

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Ali’s family heirlooms included 6 very pretty goblets with a ‘crackled’ top and amber foot.

I loved these sparkling antiques and was curious to note that the crackling technique seemed not to be present anywhere in the market at that time.

I visited several factories across the UK and was told that crackling was a very tricky thing to get right and the craftsmen who used to do it had retired or passed away many years ago.

It therefore took me a while, but in the end I managed to set up a small production facility with the help of Nazeing Glass in Broxbourne and so Crackleglass was re-born!

I mixed colour, form and materials to create what some say are my most elegant designs… evidently my Butter Dish was one of Sir Terence Conran’s favourite objects!

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