Crafting the cup of friendship with Rupert Blamire

POSTED OCTOBER 30, 2018 .

We’re continuously looking for new ideas and opportunities. It’s our aim to offer our customers a unique and intriguing range of products that they simply cannot find elsewhere. With that in mind, we’re thrilled to announce our latest collaboration between the Quaich Company, which is our shop for handcrafted Celtic pewter gifts and Rupert Blamire, maker of stunning ceramics for cooks and kitchens. All this to create two delightful, handcrafted, ceramic quaichs,  Scotland’s cup of friendship.

A meeting of makers

At the start of the year, our team headed up to Glasgow for the spring season Scotland’s Trade Fair. The event gives us a chance to showcase some of our handcrafted Celtic gifts.

By a stroke of fate, the Quaich Company stand was positioned next to the winner of the event’s Best Product Award Rupert Blamire. The ceramics maker specialises in beautiful cookery equipment and kitchenware in rich, natural colours. We soon got talking to the man behind the craft and discovered a fine heritage in pottery and craftsmanship.

Their traditional technique of hand-making bespoke products on the potter’s wheel has many similarities with the handcrafted approach we take here at the Quaich Company. We decided to work with this wonderful ceramicist and his team on a special piece and an exciting collaboration was born.

Crafting the Scottish cup of friendship

Our team commissioned Rupert Blamire to create a pottery quaich, a traditional, Scottish drinking cup of friendship for drinking whisky, one that would encapsulate both our traditional style and their skilled talent.

Luckily, we were in good hands. The makers at Rupert Blamire are well-versed in the art of making quaichs and other ceramic heritage pieces. The company has even had the honour of supplying the National Trust of Scotland with a collection of quaichs.

We worked alongside the Rupert Blamire team to design a quaich that would be as timeless as it was captivating. Each piece of the quaich was made by hand on the potter’s wheel, giving it a completely original look. There are two Scottish-themed, final products fitted with elegant rolled handles: Highland Heather 3 and Summer Tide 3.

It took hours of hard work and planning to create. “We use one of the world’s most ancient techniques to make our ceramics,” says Rupert. “Each piece has two firings and 15 separate processes. They make the perfect gift for foodies and are proudly handmade in Great Britain.”

Visit The Quaich Company

What better way to mark a special occasion or to offer a corporate gift the Scottish way, than with one of the Quaich Company’s handcrafted pewter Quaichs, Scotland’s treasured cup of friendship. Originally established in Glasgow over 50 years ago, the Quaich Company is now run by Wentworth Pewter, one of the last remaining pewtersmiths in Britain. Our skilled craftsmen have made each Quaich, one piece at a time, using techniques that have been around for hundreds of years.