The History & Charm of Portmeirion Pomona Collection

 A Celebration of Nature's Harvest

by Nadia Hassim | SZBLOOMS

After the success of Botanic Garden, Susan Williams-Ellis continued to looks to nature inspiration. But this time, instead of flowers in bloom, she turned her attention to the fruits of the orchard. The result was Pomona, a collection that celebrates harvest, abundance, and the quiet beauty of fruit at its ripest.

Inspired by Britain's orchard heritage, Pomona celebrates the beauty of nature's harvest

The name Pomona comes from the Roman goddess of fruit tress, orchards, and gardens. It is a fitting choice for collection that honours nature not at the moment it blossoms, but at the moment it bears fruit. Where Botanic Garden captured the freshness of spring, Pomona reflects the warmth and richness of late summer and autumn.

Susan's decision to create Pomona was a natural extension of what Botanic Garden has already achieved. Botanic Garden proved that people loved bringing botanical beauty into everyday life.

It showed that tableware could be both practical and decorative, and that nature could be celebrated at the dining table in a way that felt timeless and accessible. Pomona built on that idea, offering a new chapter in the same story. 

Pomona Britannica, 1818

At the heart of the collection was Susan's fascination with Pomona Britannica, a lavish early nineteenth-century book of fruit illustrations by George Brookshaw.

The work documented Britain's finest fruit varieties in extraordinary detail, preserving apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries and apricots with the same care usually reserved for fine art. These illustrations were not only beautiful, but also historically important, reflecting a period when fruit cultivation was both a science and a source of pride. 

Susan was drawn to the richness of these images. Like the botanical studies that inspired Botanic Garden, the fruit illustration in Pomona Britannica combined accuracy, colour, and charm. They captured the character of each fruit so vividly that they felt ready to be reimagined for modern life. 

Rather than leaving them as pages in an old horticultural book, Susan transformed them into tableware that could be used and enjoyed every day.

Apple Blossom Farms, NY

That is what makes Pomona so distinctive. Each piece features a different fruit motif, giving the collection a sense of variety and abundance. Instead of repeating one pattern across every item, Pomona creates a table setting that feels lively, generous, and full of personality. 

It is a collection that invites conversation and brings a sense of warmth to the table. 

Pomona also reflects Susan Williams-Ellis' belief that beautiful design should be part of daily living. She dis not see tableware as something to be kept for special occasions alone. For her, everyday objects could be both useful and uplifting, and Pomona embodies that philosophy perfectly. It turns historical artwork into something practical, while still preserving the elegance of the original inspiration. 

Decades later, Pomona remains one of Portmeirion's most beloved collections. Its appeal lies not only in its charming fruit illustrations, but also in the story behind it: Together with Botanic Garden, it shows how Susan Williams-Ellis found inspiration in every corner of the natural world.

If Botanic Garden celebrated flowers in bloom, Pomona celebrated the harvest that follows. It was Susan's way of expending the Botanic Garden story, moving from garden to orchard, and from blossom to fruit. In doing so, she created a collection that feels just as timeless today as when it was first introduced. 

More than collection, Pomona is a celebration of nature and heritage

"Every fruit tells a story of the seasons, and through Pomona, Susan Williams-Ellis transformed those stories into timeless works of art" 

As Portmeirion's journey through nature continued, Susan's inspiration returned once again to the garden. This time, she turned her attention to one of the world's most treasured flowers, The Rose, whose elegance would later bloom in the form of Botanic Roses.