From Maker to Designer: The Story of My Best-Selling Porcelain Figures

1 Jun

These little characters have been my best-sellers ever since my very first craft market back in 2013, when they were still wonderfully wonky and admittedly rather impractical.

Over the years, their design has evolved and matured, and they have more than proven themselves to be absolute charmers wherever they go. They always spark curiosity. People often stand there puzzled, wondering whether they are meant for flowers, incense sticks, or candles… until the delightful realisation hits — they are in fact designed for loose herbal tea. A deeply familiar ritual in Latvia, though perhaps less so elsewhere, which makes the discovery all the more special.

Today, these tea figures are produced in collaboration with another small Latvian company, Piebalgas Porcelain, who specialise in slip-cast porcelain and have been able to achieve a level of quality and finish beyond anything I could have imagined on my own. These pieces are surprisingly complex to cast — the heads want to nod, the legs tend to misbehave — so guiding them successfully to the final stage is no small feat. Despite the technical process, this is far from an automated production line: each hole is still made by hand, and the entire creation is carefully overseen by a handful of skilled professionals.

At first, it felt strange that my “best-sellers” were not physically made by my own hands. It challenged my identity as a maker, and it took time for me to fully embrace the role of designer as an equally valid and meaningful part of my creative path. But once I allowed that shift to settle, I realised how deeply proud I am of this collaboration.

These little porcelain beings now not only bring joy to thousands of homes but also help sustain meaningful work in the deep Latvian countryside. And somehow, that feels just as important as the objects themselves.