When Cath Brown and her husband Jeremy exchanged life in London for the life wilder on Dartmoor in 2016, they could scarcely have envisioned that in a shade under a decade they would have built a brand, a collection, and a whole new way of life. For what began innocuously enough with the need for more plates around the Christmas table – casually knocked up on the new pottery wheel they had bought for fun – has grown into Feldspar: a small-batch ceramics and homewares studio rooted in craftsmanship, sustainability, and objects built to last lifetimes.

As with all the best hobbies, it soon morphed into a full-blown purpose. Guided by the belief in creating finely wrought, hand-made bone china pieces that will endure for centuries – just as the objects their grandparents once used did – Feldspar has evolved from a single coffee mug into a full collection. Its tactile, slightly wonky profiles and blue-edged rims have fast become a much-loved signature of the brand.

Alongside their Devon studio, they collaborate with a family pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, the historic heart of British ceramics. Every mug, bowl, and piece of tableware carries a story. We stole a golden hour with Cath to  find out what fuels her creativity, what a perfect Sunday looks like, and the depth of meaning she finds in simple, hardworking objects.

What inspired you to start Feldspar, and how did it all begin?

We quit our jobs and had moved to Dartmoor when our eldest was just three months old. We’d moved from a tiny one-bedroom flat to a granite farmhouse big enough for both of our families to come for Christmas that year, but we needed enough plates and bowls (and a bigger table) which Jeremy got to work making! When we’d finished we decided that making beautiful things and getting to control every aspect of where and how and what they were made from was what we really wanted to do, so we set about building up Feldspar.

Feldspar champions ‘objects for life’ – is there a piece you’ve made that feels particularly personal or symbolic?

Our 7oz Coffee Mug was the first thing we ever made, and it’s still one of our bestsellers. It hasn’t changed at all in that time, the only difference is the range of colours you can now buy it in (twelve at last count!). It was inspired by a mug my Gran had – an old Wedgewood one, so delicate and fine and in perfect useable condition despite being hundreds of years old. It is this sort of longevity – of making something properly that is beautiful and elegant in any setting, so that it is cherished and passed along – that really inspires us.

Your ceramics and homewares are crafted in Devon – how has the landscape or community shaped your work?

I think the importance of open space really shapes our wares, perhaps more so than we realise. We live in the middle of nowhere, we have no near neighbours and it is so quiet, at night you can only hear the owls. It is bliss! And our wares take on this quietness and space too – they are refined and elegant but obviously handmade and minimally decorated. We are surrounded by craftspeople here too – the importance of making things with your hands I think can be lost in a city where everything is on tap. But living surrounded by all this beautiful nature you are much more aware of what you’re putting out into the world. It really needs to be worth it!

You’ve worked to keep your products small-batch and sustainable. What are the biggest joys and challenges in doing so?

As our ceramics team always say, they’re not really in the ceramics business but in the problem-solving business. Being small-scale, making things by hand and working in an industry that is classed as ‘Critically Endangered’ by the Heritage Crafts association here in the UK means that we are constantly having to rejig or tweak what we’re doing – products or materials we use in our manufacturing will be suddenly discontinued, so we have to find them from somewhere else (or make them ourselves, as we’ve tended to do). It keeps us on our toes!

Collaboration is part of your story – how do you balance creativity as a couple and as co-founders?

We have very opposite personalities, which I think helps. Jeremy is the creative force behind everything we do – he sees the whole of the moon. I’m more worried about keeping the ship on an even keel.

What do you love most about your job?

The freedom! Both creatively and literally.
 
Can you describe a perfect Sunday?

Yes. It is at home, in the summer, spent outside. Doing gardening (weed management), listening to Desert Island Discs and having a roast chicken with a big salad and chips. With lots of mayonnaise. Maybe a bike ride with family or a dog walk on the moor, and home to a movie with the kids and – once everyone else has gone to bed – a long, hot bath to read my book in.

What are the most cherished items you own and why?

Apart from very early mug prototypes, probably a chest of drawers we have. I inherited it when my Grandpa passed away – he had kept his woollens in it. There’s a nameplate in the top drawer and it turns out it was made in 1715 in a workshop in the yard of St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It had only been owned by one family before my Grandpa bought it, which explains why it’s in such good condition and still going strong. Some of this cabinet maker’s work is in museums now, but this chest would have been his regular bread-and-butter sort of making, not a fancy show piece. I love knowing where it was made, and by whom, all those years ago. And imagining what’s been kept in it over the years. It’s currently full of too-small baby clothes that I can’t quite bear to part with.

What’s your favourite failsafe dinner party dish?

A pavlova. We have an Aga, which is perfect for a pavlova – it’s the easiest and most impressive pudding out there.

Where do you go to spark inspiration?

For a walk, together, around home (so we often don’t bump into another soul). A walk is the best place to chat through ideas and have a daydream.

What’s your favourite hotel and why?

We work with lots of hotels who we love dearly and couldn’t possibly choose between. But discounting those, our favourite is the Falken up in the mountains in Wengen, Switzerland. My Dad has been going there both in summer and winter since he was tiny, and we’ve kept up the tradition. It’s a wonderful place, it doesn’t change – but in a good way. I have lots of childhood memories of hot baths I could barely see over the rim of, puffy duvets in enormous beds and majestic views of the mountains from every room.

Can you share some Devon hotspots you love?

Our local town, Chagford, is a brilliant place to spend the day. You can walk out onto the moor from there after having a coffee and cinnamon bun from Beachwood, the local bakery – hike up a tor and then return via the local spring water-fed swimming pool for a dip and a hot chocolate. There’s lots of pubs, a pizza van on Thursdays and every Friday evening people gather beside the wall of the churchyard for music and drinks in the dusk.

Name a song that is significant to you and why?

Africa by Toto – it was our first dance at our wedding, and then just after our eldest son was born it came on the hospital radio!

Who has had the biggest impact on your career?

Probably our old bosses – mine was a very impressive 80-year-old gallerist who taught me many things, including the importance of sleeping on difficult emails before you send them. And Jeremy’s was a wonderfully charming and vivacious Italian who entrusted him with lots of responsibility very early on. They both left big impressions.

Which delights you more: garden pottering or kitchen pottering?

Garden pottering. Our garden is big and about 80 per cent brambles by this time of year (to the delight of the kids) but it’s a fun if relentless job trying to keep the wilderness just at bay.

Early riser or night owl?

Jeremy is an early riser, I am most definitely a night owl.

How would you describe your interior style?

Nordic aspirations but way too much Lego to be taken seriously.

What job would you do in a parallel life?

I would design the flatpack card building kits for model railway layouts. They are my favourite thing to do during the holidays. Jeremy would be a chef.