Oxford’s historic Ashmolean Museum welcomes Spring with an uplifting Gifting Edit
Britain’s first public museum, Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, waves goodbye to winter and welcomes in a new season with their beautifully curated Spring Gifting Guide. This colourful edit champions artistry, craftsmanship and the natural world. From ceramics, textiles and vegetable-dyed handcrafted leather goods, to frame-worthy socks and the museum’s very own tea selection, the Ashmolean Shop has a wide range of gifts available for all ages, budgets and tastes. Please find some of our favourites below.
SGW Lab Ceramics, UK MAKER | RRP from £21
SGW Lab was founded in London in 2018 by ceramic artist Yuta Segawa. Yuta created SGW lab to shine a light on handmade pieces in a world where everyday objects are increasingly mass produced. He is greatly inspired by William Morris who was a champion of craftsmanship and led the Art’s & Crafts movement. Yuta’s small team hand-makes each piece from throwing to glazing. The result is a truly eye-catching range of bold & beautiful ceramics.
“Art which is to be made by the people and for the people, as a happiness to the maker and the user.”
– William Morris
WILLOW LEATHER, UK MAKER | RRP from £10.50
Willow Leather was founded in 2019 by Amber Willow, who started the business after discovering leather craftsmanship whilst teaching textiles. Each piece is meticulously sourced, designed, and handcrafted by Amber, ensuring the utmost attention to detail and quality. The collection is made using Italian vegetable tanned leather which, as it matures over time, develops a rich patina making each piece truly unique. Vegetable tanned leather uses natural ingredients such as tree bark, fruits, and leaves in the tanning process, embracing a more environmentally-friendly approach to dying leather.
TOM PIGEON JEWELLERY, UK MAKER | RRP from £45.00
Created using mixed metals this collection of jewellery uses simple layered shapes to create abstract pieces. A collaboration between Tom Pigeon’s riverside studio in Liverpool and their metal workshop in the West of Scotland. Tom Pigeon was founded in 2014 by artist and designer Kirsty Thomas. Their designs explore the playful nature of colour, form, abstraction and line, experimenting with process and materials. Kirsty also works across print, homewares, jewellery, sculpture, paintings, textiles and stationery – and has even designed the occasional garden. To create her pieces she works with passionate and knowledgeable craftspeople; small-scale screen printers, traditional foil-blockers, old-school letterpress workshops, family-run metal-workers and independent makers.
SOPHIE HOME THROWS & CUSHIONS | RRP from £55.00
Sophie Home was started from the corner of founder Sophie’s sitting room back in 2013. The company launched with just seven throw styles, seven cushion covers and four shower curtains. Both their throws and cushions are made from 100% Oeko-tex standard 100 cotton & coloured using azo-free dyes. The cotton makes them super soft and cosy as well as naturally breathable. The very nature of knit and weave means very little waste material is generated.
Throw Details:
Material: 100% cotton knit Dimensions: 160 x 130cm (63″ x 51″)
Cushion Details:
Materials: 100% cotton knit outer with biodegradable filling.
Dimensions: 50 x 50cm (20″ x 20″)
ASHMOLEAN TEA, UK MAKER | RRP from £14.50
The Way of Tea is a tea-tasting journey created between Team Tea and the Ashmolean Museum, the University of Oxford’s museum of art and archaeology. Founded in 1683, the Ashmolean’s world-famous collections range from Egyptian mummies to contemporary art, telling human stories across cultures and across time.
The tea set includes six award winning teas and an unbleached cotton tea bag. Each tea is accompanied by a souvenir card leading the drinker from the tea’s origins in China and charting its spread across the world via Buddhism, Empire, trade, and espionage. The journey is guided by objects from the Ashmolean’s extensive collection revealing not just fascinating stories of individual endeavour but also how culture has been influenced by this seemingly humble drink.
ASHMOLEAN COFFEE BEAN CADDY, UK MAKER | RRP £14.50
Jericho Coffee Traders are based at the heart of Oxford’s High Street in a building that was one of the first coffee houses in the city. Inspired by this heritage they have teamed up with the Ashmolean Museum, the world’s first public museum, to present this special heritage coffee.
Notes: Stone fruit, raisin, choco, vanilla, cashew
ASHMOLEAN STATIONERY | RRP from £5.99
We have an extensive range of Ashmolean and art inspired stationary both in store and online. One of our best-sellers is pictured below. A luxurious and decorative notebook, with detailing inspired by a Japanese Cloisonné casket. The cover is printed on foil in five colours, embossed, then foil stamped. A beautiful and practical notebook, with a pocket at the back for receipts and scraps, two bookmarks and a solid magnetic side flap. Also available as part of our mini lightweight notebook pack of three.
ASHMOLEAN X MuseARTa SOCKS | RRP from £13.00
MuseARTa products are the opposite of fast fashion. All socks are made with machines equipped with 200 needles, allowing an unparalleled attention to detail, and use cotton yarn whenever possible to increase the level of cotton content. MuseARTa are very passionate about socks and representing art in a way that makes it accessible to all, everyday!
ENDS
Hi-res images available on request
For more information, please contact Charlie Davey | charlie@likemindedpr.com For inquiries regarding distribution and retail partnerships, please contact carrie.hickman@ashmus.ox.ac.uk.
EDITOR NOTES
ABOUT THE ASHMOLEAN
Founded in 1683, the Ashmolean is the University of Oxford’s Museum of art and archaeology and is the first public museum in the world. With a rich and varied collection of over 1.2 million objects spanning millennia, the world-famous collections range from Egyptian mummies to contemporary art, telling human stories across cultures and across time. Admission to the museum is free.
ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM | BRAND LICENSING
The Ashmolean Museum’s brand licensing activity has been represented since 2020 by Ian Downes at Start Licensing. The five new licensees who have recently come on board are:
Atlantic Mats who are developing a range of mats inspired by objects from the Museum. Atlantic Mats have developed a range of doormats and runners inspired by Ashmolean artefacts such as Iznik tiles and a Jali screen. The Museum has a set of 48 glazed ceramic tiles in its Eastern Art Collection whilst the Jali screen is part of a set of Mughal screens that the Museum believe were used to display Indian Art in the nineteenth century. Atlantic Mats products are made with components including regenerated nylon from waste such as fishing nets and the company has a heavy focus on being a sustainable business.
China Petals are developing a range of mosaic kits with designs inspired by artefacts from the Ashmolean Museum. The kits come with all the elements needed to complete a project including mosaic tiles, grout and glue. There are three products in the Ashmolean range including a Flower Mosaic Coaster Kit with the featured design sourced from a block printed textile fragment and a butterfly mosaic kit inspired by a design from the Museum’s Worcester Porcelain collection.
Jericho Coffee Traders are the latest beverage company to partner with Ashmolean. Coffee drinking has been a mainstay of Oxford life since the seventeenth century. Jericho Coffee Traders are based at the heart of Oxford’s High Street in a building that was one of the first coffee houses in the city. Inspired by this heritage, the Ashmolean have teamed up to present a special heritage blend. The blend is sold in a tin that features Turner’s painting of Oxford High Street which is part of the Ashmolean’s collection.
The Indian Block Print Company is a successful Oxfordshire-based company producing the most exquisite block printing kits. The Ashmolean has a rich collection from South Asia, which is helping to inspire creativity. Each block is authentically carved in collaboration with Indian carvers using a sustainable model.
Gibson’s Organic Liqueurs are developing a range of Liqueurs using ingredients such as Crab Apples. Gibson’s are based in Oxfordshire. Gibson’s multi-awarding winning liqueurs are made using only fruit and flowers grown on their organic farm. They join a growing selection of food and drink licensees. The Ashmolean already work with locally based gin producer The Oxford Artisan Distillery, Hook Norton Brewery another local firm who have brewed an Ashmolean Ale and Team Tea another Oxfordshire based company who have created the Ashmolean Tea Blend.
Ian Downes from Start Licensing the Ashmolean’s licensing agency commented “It is very satisfying to see these new licensees come on board. They are joining a licensing programme that is enjoying great success both in qualitative and quantitative terms. Existing licensees such as Park London have delivered successful apparel collections across a range of retailers whilst Graphenstone Paints have picked up a number of industry awards for their Ashmolean paint collection. These new licensees dovetail well with some of the key objectives we have including working with local Oxfordshire businesses and being proactive where possible around sustainability. It is also great to be working with a number of ‘new to licensing’ companies — they bring fresh thinking and are reaching new market sectors. It is also good to see core categories like arts and crafts plus home interiors growing as well”.
Contact details:
For more details please contact: Ian Downes at Start Licensing 07776 228454 | ian@startlicensing.co.uk
For further details, or how to work with the Ashmolean please contact:
Dec McCarthy, Head of Publishing and Licensing: dec.mccarthy@ashmus.ox.ac.uk or Carrie Hickman, Publishing and Licensing Manager: carrie.hickman@ashmus.ox.ac.uk
