as 'Excellent'
The Great Pottery Throwdown’s Keith Brymer Jones has been leading a ceramic revolution since 2015. As a judge on wildly popular series he has introduced a whole new generation of people to the wonders of pottery and design. Keith’s Make International Brand including his ‘Word’ range of mugs, has proved to one of our most sort after products over the past few years, up to the point we can barely keep up with the demand! We have put together a profile on him for some of the most searched Keith Brymer Jones questions:
Who is Keith Brymer Jones and how old is he?
Keith was born in London in 1965. His interest in pottery started at a young age but it wasn’t until his starting an apprenticeship, at Harefield pottery in London, that he considered that it could be a worthwhile career.
Who is Keith Brymer Jones’s wife?
Keith is married to Marjory Hogarth, who works in the Theatre. Keith has stated before that he is extremely proud of his wife, as he is an obsessive workaholic, with utter dedication to his trade and the quality of his products.
A crying Keith Brymer Jones is a frequent occurrence on Great British Throwdown. What makes him cry?
Keith has been seen to cry a lot on the show and the great viewing public of the Great British {Pottery Showdown has often wonder why. Keith has said the following on the subject “I find the simpler the design, the more impact it has. There’s quite often times when I’ve looked at a certain shape, and it will move me to tears.” Looks like as the series goes on we might be seeing a lot of the famous Keith Brymer Jones crying shots.
Why are Keith Brymer Jones Mugs so popular?
Keith has stated before what he loves about his ranges of mugs, cups, plates and bowls, especially in his now famous ‘Word’ range is the simplicity of the design, and the slightly retro feel about them. This has been coupled with some more, shall we say risqué, modern phrases some of which we won’t repeat here although you can find it here on this link 😉 Designs range from the simple Happy mug, to the wildly popular Daddy and Mummy ones. The whole range of the mugs can be found on this link
What collaborations has Keith done?
The Make International brand has a number of collaboration with famous designers and brands, all of which feature on Keith’s signature ceramics. Brands include Tatty Devine, National Trust, Jane Foster, Scion Living, Bert & Bouy, and Sukie. All of which can be found on our site here
Why are the Keith Brymer Jones mugs made in China and not in the UK?
This is one of the biggest complaints we have from customers is that they think the pottery is made in the UK by Keith. This is understandable in some respects having watched him extensively on the Great British Pottery Throwdown hand making many ceramics. Unfortunately, due to the huge popularity of the ranges, they cannot be made by Keith any more. The process of how they are made was explained by him as the following -
“Once I am happy with each shape I have thrown on the wheel, I then travel to China with the finished prototype, where I work with our great team on the factory floor to ensure the products we produce maintain the same standards as the ones in my studio back home. All of the pieces in the Keith Brymer Jones ranges are then finished by hand.”
Often it is asked whether these could not be made in the UK rather than China
“Pottery/ceramic production from China is some of the most exquisite, important and oldest in the world. The Chinese have been producing ceramics since the Neolithic age and over the centuries they have refined and honed their craft to astounding and impressive results”
He follows up with “As I walked through the factories I was highly aware of this connection between crafts and the process of production within a factory setting. It firmed up my belief that it was the material itself, the clay what it’s undoubtedly at the core of anyone who was involved in making ceramic pots and here I was, in China, experiencing first hand the enormous experience of the staff in producing it. I’m ok with China producing china (the clue is in the name! )
If I was producing clothing or cuddly toys, or for that matter mobile phones, would I feel differently? Who knows? But to produce ceramic from its very birthplace, it was a no brainer”
Is Keith Brymer Jones Welsh?
Keith has stated before in interviews that he has a Welsh background. He paid homage to this with his new range of Welsh cups and mugs. The word range of mugs features phrases such as the extremely popular ‘cariad’ mug
If there is anything else that’d you’d like to know about Keith Brymer Jones, his Make international brand, or the various different types of ceramics please send us a message on help@hypedesignlondon.co.uk, or on Instagram or facebook.
Update 22/12/2021 - Keith's book launch
Keith will be releasing his autobiography "Boy in a China Shop" on the 3rd February 2022. In his book Keith will be covering his life from early childhood, his early years, meeting his wife Marj, through to finding fame with his pottery. Here is the official blurb on the book;
"'During downtime on the pottery throwdown Keith made my hair curl with some of his tales - he's a great raconteur and recounts his story in this book as he does in real life - with joy, charm & mischief.' - Sara Cox
Ballet dancer. Front man in an almost famous band. Judge on The Great Pottery Throwdown. How did all that happen?
By accident mostly. But I always say we make our own luck. What if an art teacher hadn't given me a lump of clay? What if the band had been really successful? What if I hadn't taken a photograph of a bowl to the buyer at Heals in London? What if she'd hated it? Or hadn't seen it... What if I hadn't agreed to dress up as Adele to make a crazy YouTube video?
Every chapter of my book is based around an object (usually a pot) that's been significant in my life. It's just at trigger to let me go off in a lot of different directions and tell a few stories. A lot of stories. Dyslexia. The art teacher who changed my life. My Mother. My Father. A life-changing job interview with a man who lay under his car throughout. That video.
Sifting through half-forgotten memories, trying to pick out the golden nuggets from the stuff that is definitely dross has been a curious, and at times hilarious, sometimes sad, but definitely enlightening process. So here it is - my pottery life with some very loud music and some pretty good dancing. And a lot of throwing, fettling and firing.
Oh ...and a good dose of anxiety."
We will be looking to get the book in stock as soon as possible, for anyone interested in reading it please drop us a email and we can pre-order it for you.
Update 11/02/2022 - Keith Brymer Jones's book launch
Its finally arrived! We have 1000 copies of Keith's book (A Boy In A China Shop- Life, Clay and Everything) to sell, if you are interested, and we have please drop us an email on help@hypedesignlondon.co.uk and we'll drop you a message as soon as they are live on the site.
This is the photo I took earlier today of the pallet of books :-)
Thanks for reading this far, we appreciate your visit, if you'd like to buy any Keith Brymer Jones products we will offer you a 10% discount for being a fan. Use the code KBJBLOG at the checkout.
Keep checking back for more Keith Brymer Jones updates and information.
