Northumbria 

I remember the first time I saw the dish.

It was offered with such quiet generosity that I was moved by both its beauty and the kindness behind it.

It was shown to me with such quiet reverence that I felt it before I understood it. An 18th-century Chelsea-Derby deep dish, created in 1779 for the Duke of Northumberland’s second marriage—this object was unlike anything I’d seen. Its presence was immediate. Not showy, but commanding. Deep, noble blue encircled by an interlaced rim: soft white florets, each with a bright golden centre, framing exquisitely painted flowers in the centre that seemed to bloom with emotion. It was these details—the delicacy, the warmth, the sense of something lovingly made—that compelled me to respond. It had been made with extraordinary care. And across centuries, over two hundred years, that care still spoke.

I had never imagined porcelain could move me. But this piece bewitched me. I returned to it again and again, captivated not only by its form but by the feeling it carried. I considered the artists who shaped each detail with such precision—the interlaced rim, the radiant gilding and flowers at the center of the dish painted with such tenderness. I felt such awe at their skill. I wondered about their lives. I felt their presence still in the brushstrokes evident on the dish. I wanted to pay tribute to them. I wanted to make something that could hold that same feeling—something enduring, something that could be worn and treasured.

This scarf—Northumbria—was born of that moment.

I took the gilded rhythm of the original and reimagined it for silk—drawn in by the pattern on the rim, which fascinated me both technically and emotionally. Reinterpreting it became a way of listening, of understanding its structure, and then answering it in silk. Not simply as reproduction, but as resonance: something wearable, breathing, alive. The interlaced motif encircles the scarf’s perimeter, but I played with space, giving it quiet, air, and dignity. I extended the golden edge so that it flickers in motion, like thought catching light.

The script ‘Northumbria’—handwritten by the present custodian of the dish—appears on the scarf itself, a quiet homage to the personal history behind the piece.

Crafted in 100% silk twill, this square scarf measures 88.5 by 88.5 cm. Its weight is satisfying but fluid; its presence is unmistakable. Whether worn knotted at the throat, draped across the shoulders, or framed on a wall, it holds its bearing without force. Designed for all genders, it speaks in a universal, regal tongue.

This is the cornerstone of my Porcelain Collection—the Northumbria scarf—the design that makes porcelain feel eternal in silk. And to me, it remains a standard. A beginning. A flag raised in silk.

For those who understand beauty as a form of honour, Northumbria is more than a scarf. It is a tribute: to tradition, to artistry, and to the quiet power of things made to last.