Egg

There is no doubt that most beautiful shop in London, for clothes, for homeware, for accessories and for breathing in the very air of subtle, understated elegance, is egg, at 36 Kinnerton Street, in Belgravia. There are two shops actually, across the road from one another, housed in a sort of cobbled mews lane, which used to be home to a dairy. The shop is plain, white, minimalist and quite small, with clothes hung on the wall, and accessories arranged on a big wooden table. One wall is tiled with lovely Moroccan tiles, weaving cornflower blue and indigo shades together in a trellis pattern. The shop is owned by Maureen Doherty, a very talented Scottish lady who worked for 15 years with the Japanese designer, Issey Miyake. There is definitely a Far Eastern note to her vision, as well as a nod to romance, bohemia, travelling and north Africa.

We spied these ceramic cups in her shop. They are housed inside a glass cabinet, alongside jewellery, and in fact we do think they are jewels. They come in two sizes: the taller cup could be used for water, while the smaller size would be excellent for espresso or green tea. Very plain, tactile, pleasing and hand made, they are the very essence of virtuous simplicity and careful craftsmanship. A bit like egg itself.

Contact Details

egg

36 Kinnerton Street

London SW1X 8ES

E-mail: [email protected]

There is no website.

Jane Parker

Jane Parker is retired from a career in curating. She enjoys entertaining, shopping for food, artisanal wares and plants, as well as dining out, reading cook books and food blogs. She has worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York, at Christie’s and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and collects beautiful, hand made objects that stand the test of time and fashion.