Emma Bridgewater's cheerfully distinctive kitchen pottery - manufactured and traditionally hand-decorated in the Staffordshire Potteries, just as it would have been 200 years ago - has found its way onto the dresser shelves and kitchen tables of homes all over Britain and beyond.

Her designs are jaunty, friendly, sometimes quietly funny. They call to mind childhood picnics, summer gardens and busy kitchens, with their motifs of Sweet Peas and Figs or bold calligraphic patterns such as Toast & Marmalade. Above all the name Emma Bridgewater suggests home and welcome.

This book combines beautiful photographs of Emma's life and designs with a collection of warm stories of her family, along with the inspirations for and characters involved in the success of this particularly English brand.