Turk Gourd Fish Platter

In 2004 Laura, Thor and their son Wulff moved from San Francisco to Vermont. They built their first production studio in the hay barn of their home, The Jasper Partridge House, a historic post and beam farmhouse built in 1778 in the historic Village of Algiers. In honor of their home and its long history and craftsmanship, the partridge became the symbol of Laura Zindel Design. As the business grew, the studio moved to a large industrial space in Brattleboro which is now home to our showroom and production facility. Our family has also grown to include a small team of skilled artisans. We take pride in combining our talents to do what we love to do everyday – create beautiful work for you and your family. Our handmade tableware is fabricated with small batches of white ceramic earthenware and hand brushed with our signature glazes. The surface of each piece is then collaged with enamel transfers of Laura’s detailed graphite pencil drawings of flora and fauna. Each piece is fired 3 times fo create the rich surfaces of our heirloom place settings, serving dishes and table accessories.

Everyone at Laura Zindel Design strives to make best ceramic products possible. During each stage of our process your piece travels through the many hands of our skilled artisans. Our materials and our process are unique to Laura Zindel Design and every piece that goes out our door is made to order especially for you. During each part of our process your item has gone through our kilns and fired 3 times. Because of this process variations can occur and each piece will be slightly different. While many factors contribute to these variations, the reason we are most proud of is that the materials we use are from the earth and people make our products. The final step and one of the most important to us, is inspecting each piece for quality before it is carefully wrapped and placed in the box that arrives at your door. Below are helpful ways to keep your Laura Zindel products healthy.

Handmade

Our handmade items are functional works of art, crafted from earthenware and glazed with non-toxic low-fire glazes. These products do not like to be heated and cooled quickly and should not be put in the dishwasher, microwave or oven. These items are designed for food serving only and need to be handled with loving care. Please hand washed with non-abrasives in warm soapy water. Store in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight.

While all Laura Zindel ceramics products are food safe, they are not to be used for heavy food preparation or food storage.  Avoid contact with foods high in citric acid or deep colored foods such as beets or berries over long periods of time.

Dinnerware

Our dinnerware items are are designed for every day use. They can be put in the dishwasher and the microwave. Please keep in mind that while our dinnerware is quite durable, it is still made from clay and can be damaged if dropped or knocked about. Often, flaws created during impact will not be detectable immediately and can develop into a crack or break with use over time. 

Dishwasher: The dishwasher can be hard on ceramic surfaces and can dull your pieces over time with repeated washing. Use a non-abrasive soap low in citric acid. Rinse before loading, avoid stacking, or dinnerware touching during washing.
Wash on gentle cycle.

Microwave: Use the low setting to gently reheat drinks or to warm food for 1-2 minutes. Do not use your dinnerware to cook, defrost food or heat cold beverages directly from the refrigerator. Caution should be taken when heating beverages high in fat such as milk and cream, which will get hot very quickly in a microwave. Take care in removing items from the microwave as they will absorb heat and be hot to the touch.

Oven: We recommend that you only use your dinnerware to warm food. Dinnerware items should not be put in an oven above 450 degrees F and should be warmed and cooled slowly.

What is the difference between Handmade and Dinnerware?

Handmade items have our logo stamped into the clay on the bottom of each piece. If you run your finger over the logo you can feel the outline of the logo pressed into the clay surface.

Dinnerware items have our logo fired on the bottom of each piece in the same way that our designs are fired to the clay surface. If you run your finger over the logo on the bottom it will be smooth to the touch.