After taking up pottery classes as a hobby, Chris Silverston fell in love with the medium because of its balance of beauty and functionality. In 1986 Chris founded the Potter’s Shop in her hometown of Kalk Bay, a seaside village on the outskirts of Cape Town, where she sold glazes, contemporary ceramics and held bi-annual exhibitions.

In 1991 she opened the Potter’s Studio above the shop, where people could come and paint their own plates. This evolved into a design studio with (initially) women artists, such as Lisa Ringwood, Tiffany Wallace and Willemien de Villiers doing the painting, followed later by Majolandile Dylvane, Madoda Fani and Theo Ntunwana, now prominent ceramicists in their own right.

As the business grew, it morphed into Potter’s Workshop and moved to the nearby Capricorn Business Park. Chris took on a number of men from local communities and trained them in the art of ceramics painting. Here these artisans developed their tactile, bead-like style of painting for which the company became renowned.

The business changed hands in 2016, but Chris resumed ownership of it in 2019. It was renamed, simply, Potterswork and we continue to produce the detailed, high-quality ceramics for which we have become known around the world. The beautiful items produced by our team are exported to various outlets in North America, Europe and Australasia.