The world of home and kitchenware has just got a touch of Sri Lankan charm with the introduction of our new range of ceramic Elephant-themed designs!

The new Elephant Planter

Including Salt and Peppers, Planters, Money Boxes, Egg Cups and Trinket Dishes, the new Elephant collection will be arriving this autumn, and it's quite a departure from our usual furry or feathered creations! After receiving a request from a shop that we stock called The Elephant in the Room, to make an elephant with a fez, I felt it was time to add to the jungle animals I have created! ( I will make the shop a one-off fez elephant, I promise.)

While I've crafted various animal-themed products in the past, I felt compelled to pay homage to the majestic elephant. I’ve had the privilege of seeing real-life elephants on one of my trips to Sri Lanka, and as we work closely with a ceramics producer there, I wanted to create a tribute to Sri Lanka's much loved animal. 

Elephants we saw at an Elephant Sanctuary in Sri Lanka

My creative process kicked-off earlier this year, and I started experimenting with various designs and forms. Elephants, with their graceful curving trunks and intricate details, posed a unique challenge. 

The beginnings of my Elephant Money Box model

Whilst elephants aren’t furry or feathered, they do have their characteristic wrinkly skin, and so I had to really think about how to design the decals in an attractive way that gave the impression of elephant skin. I experimented with drawing different line patterns for different body parts until I created some more simplistic patterns that seemed to do the job very well!

Sketchbook drawings used to create the Elephant decals

On to the actual body of the elephant. Whilst small Egg Cups and Salt and Peppers aren't too difficult to create, the much larger Planters and Money Boxes required a lot more consideration. Their centre of balance was very hard to get right, as they are cast hollow, unlike the real animal!  Elephants have a large head that sits well forward of the body, but we got it right in the end. 

The new Elephant Money Box

And now we have a large stock of Elephant designs perfect for adding some jungle drama to your home, or just a stampede of baby elephants across your dining table! I must say, they’re looking very cool next to our monkeys, tigers and toucans…

 The Elephant Egg Cup perking-up breakfast eggs!