Do you look at their silhouettes in the sky and marvel at their flight and stamina for their long journeys they make to get here in Britain?

Are you passionate about these birds and worried about the drop in numbers over the last 30 years?

Do you want to reflect your passions in your interior as well?

Are you a lover of mid-century pottery?

Or maybe you are looking for a gift for someone that this resonates with? That twitcher in your life, your own personal Chris Packham? 

Read on!

Last year, during a long conversation I had with someone within the RSPB, the topic of swifts came up: “Have you ever thought of making ceramic swifts for the wall?”

“Yes, but I haven’t done it yet”

“Well, they are now a threatened species, and could do with some help; perhaps you could do a similar project to the one you did with Puffins”

So I got thinking, so far our puffin sales have donated over £10K to puffin conservation, the kind of money that can really make an impact! What if I made swifts and then, through the sales, donated to the RSPB to help the number of swifts increase? So, I started modelling them. Harder than I first thought, they gradually came to life in clay form, and the journey of product creation began for a flying trio of wall-mounted swifts.

This journey was not without major obstacles along the way, getting the right silhouette, getting the wings at the right level of expansion, and trying to reflect different flight angles; all of these creative choices hit me hard.

I really wanted to trigger that joy you feel when watching these acrobatic birds in flight. Through that, I also wanted to anchor them in an interior setting so that they can become part of your daily life, and brighten that dull wall you have been pondering over, or really hit the spot as a gift you want to give to the swift lover in your life!

A big part of being creative for me is how attached I am to birds in particular, and the wider natural world. I am very concerned about their plight, and have been seeking ways to pair my creations with charities that do amazing work in this field.

So every set I sell will include a £5.00 donation to the RSPB for Swift Conservation. This was a real success for the puffins; we couldn’t have done that without partnering with our Sri Lankan manufacturers, who do such an amazing job of hand-making consistently high-quality puffins for us. 

I am now at the point where the Swifts are looking how I want them to, and so I wanted to share this journey with the avid lovers of these fast, fleeting marvels of the sky!

So here is the final product! (trigger warning, they are not swift coloured!) I am not always known for conventional representation, so I fancied deviating from their natural colours, to make them in more joyful colours for now, and see how people react! I personally love the retro, mid-century feel of them.

So far, I have done them in pink and also in green/blue. They have been handmade by me and my daughter, Megan, in small limited editions of each colourway for a spring launch, and they are now available to order on our website. 

But I really need some feedback! 

Please let me know what you think, if there is a particular colour way you would like to see, or if you would like them in a traditional swift colour.

These limited editions are priced at £195 per set, and when they are gone, they are gone. I will then, if they are popular, pass the production on to Sri Lanka, as I do with most of my designs, and continue the Limited Edition colour idea. 

So if you miss out on this first flock, or they are just too expensive for you, fear not, we will endeavour to keep you happy!

Designed and handcrafted by me in my Wiltshire studio in England. Handmade from earthenware ceramic with hand-sprayed underglaze and detailed printed decal decoration. Each bird is also signed by me!

This set comes beautifully presented in a bespoke recycled card gift box, so it will arrive ready to wrap and send as a gift. All outer packaging is plastic-free and fully recyclable; the perfect ethical and sustainable gift for lovers of the earth. Also, all our flying trio sets come with free delivery!

Approximate measurements - wingtip to wingtip x beak to tail:
Large: 26cm x 17cm
Medium: 21cm x 16.5cm 
Small: 16cm x 14cm.

Hannah x