Designer Trish Scorgie has brought a new lease of life to vintage ceramic designs , and in turn is helping to rejuvenate a dying industry .
Second Chance
Photographs by Jon Aaron Green Words by Rosalind Erskine
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Designer Trish Scorgie has brought a new lease of life to vintage ceramic designs , and in turn is helping to rejuvenate a dying industry .
After working in music industry for years , Trish Scorgie decided to embark on a career change that involved her passion for vintage ceramics and gave her the flexibility to work around her daughter .
In March 2012 she set up her company Volpe and Volpe , which means fox in Italian . “ I was really into Etsy and came across some lovely ideas from America ,” Trish explains . “ I felt there was a lot of the same things around at the time and I wanted to create something a bit different and unique especially with ceramics as I ’ ve been a hoarder over the years .” It was during her online research that Trish came across the vintage swan vase , which has become Volpe and Volpe ’ s signature piece .
“ I love the shape of the swan but it wasn ’ t available in very nice colours . I wanted to revamp it by producing it in contemporary colours such as matt black and metallics ,” says Trish .
Trish investigated the swan mould ’ s background as she does with every piece she sells through Volpe and Volpe . It originally belonged to Dartmouth Pottery , which was sold to Wade but they didn ’ t take the swan , making it perfect to reinvent . “ I love tracing back the origins and what has happened to the companies and moulds that they produced . So many get lost in sales over the years and there are only a few originals left over .” says Trish .
She then had to find a mould maker and was keen to work with Stoke on Trent , but had difficulty in finding a supplier to do small runs .