The dust has settled on a brilliant few days at London Craft Week — Owen O’Leary breaks down the Scottish talent at the show this year, and tells you where to buy their work
I was fortunate to be in England’s capital city supporting Craft Scotland’s installation The Shape of Scent, featuring work by glass artist and designer Juli Bolanos-Durman at Jorum London. London Craft Week is a city-wide festival celebrating exceptional craftsmanship, across multiple sectors and disciplines, from around the world. Through a curated programme of events, the festival shines a light on the creative talent behind some of the world’s most beautiful objects, telling stories of their inspiration, process and materials.
For Scotland’s professional makers, this access to an international market is vital. The beauty of the festival are the numerous contexts for engaging with craft. There’s opportunities to see makers at work in pop-up studios, view craft in high end gallery settings and even better, in lived-in spaces that help us imagine items in our own homes.
There’s no need to wait another year to pick up these future heirlooms. Here’s my Scottish craft shopping list from London Craft Week 2026.
Choi Keeryong
I first came across Choi’s work at Collect in 2018 and was blown away by these cast glass vessels that, in part, explored Choi’s dual identity as a Korean living in Scotland. Shortlisted for the Lowe Prize in 2023 and featured last week at Soluna Fine Craft, Choi’s gold leaf inlaid pieces are top of my craft wishlist! In the meantime, I’ll make do with visiting his piece at the National Museum of Scotland to admire this exceptional maker’s talent up close.
Where to buy: Contact Choi Keeryong for purchases and commissions
Frances Priest
Another Scotland-based maker of international renown is Frances Priest, whose work was exhibited by craft gallery Cavaliero Finn at Sotheby’s during London Craft Week. Edinburgh-based Priest’s vibrant ceramic vessels explore and reinterpret the languages of ornament drawn from a wide range of cultures, locations and historical periods in a practice that spans ceramic art, design and craft. The ‘Chevron / Stripe / Asanoha’ collection collages together Frances’ favourite motifs drawn from varied sources: heraldry, modernism and Japanese pattern design.
Where to buy: The Chevron / Stripe / Asanoha Collection pieces, from £4,800
Carol Sinclair
As part of Colours in Conversation at Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery, Forfar-based Carol Sinclair debuted new pieces from her Solarpunk collection. The porcelain plates and vessels are inspired by the ecological movement that champions an optimistic vision of our human ability to achieve ecological and environmental wellbeing. Vibrant turquoise and juicy lime greens made these a perfect fit for the Colours in Conversation exhibition.
Where to buy: Medium ‘Solarpunk’ vessel, £395
Richard Goldsworthy
Richard Goldsworthy was one of seven makers curated by ceramic artist Emma Louise Payne at Atelier Seventy Six. The west London townhouse was transformed into a dynamic environment shaped by making, learning and exchange, with one maker brought into focus each day. Richard is based in the Borders with a workshop at the Hugo Burge Foundation. He works with found fallen wood and metal to create elemental pieces with bold contrasts celebrating material dialogue. At London Craft Week, he presented three new stools and a series of wall-based pieces. The charred sycamore and pewter of Atlas was my personal favourite.
Where to buy: ‘Atlas’ in charred sycamore and pewter, £1,350
Monica Findlay
Also at Atelier Seventy Six, is Glasgow-based silversmith and jeweller Monica Findlay whose practice is rooted in identity and materiality. Readers might remember her work from HARVEST at City Arts Centre last year. For London Craft Week, Monica presented a series of silver boxes and jewellery pieces. Her ‘Muckle’ box in ebony and 925 silver instantly elevates any surface, space and even person it comes into contact with. It looked beautiful in situ amongst the other work on show.
Where to buy: ‘Muckle’ box, 925 silver with ebony inlay, £4900
The Marchmont Workshop
One of the highlights of London Craft Week was the Slow Ways Our Common Ground exhibition, which celebrated Britain’s heritage crafts and contemporary design at art’otel London Hoxton. Scotland based exhibitors include: The Marchmont Workshop, Malcolm Appleby Engraving and Dye-Weave-Pleat Collective. Congratulations to all makers participating in the exhibition, and in particular to The Marchmont Workshop whose ‘Canopy’ collection was recently awarded The Design Guild Mark for excellence in design.
Where to buy: ‘Canopy’ armchair, £3600
Oliver Spendley
A particular treat at this year’s event was at Sotheby’s Galleries, which were filled with a series of exhibitions. The lighting, context and careful curation by guest galleries and exhibition organisers helped highlight the value of craft to new audiences. The spotlight firmly and deservedly fell on Scotland-based furniture maker Oliver Spendley whose ‘Otherlands IV’ table won the inaugural House & Garden Craft Prize. Selected by the judges from over 500 entries from across the UK, the Durness-based maker blends the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands and the northern coastline into a totemic wood and stone table that echoes early altars.
Where to buy: ‘Otherlands IV’ table, £12,480
Juli Bolaños-Durman
Finally, alongside many visitors to Jorum London, I was fortunate enough to see Juli Bolaños-Durman share insights into her spirited practice in person. Seeing the skill, care and precision of using endangered heritage glass cutting techniques whilst hearing about the intuitive creative approach to creating colourful pieces was a particular highlight. Juli presented works from two collections, the scent inspired ‘Wild Flowers’ and her latest ‘Wee Birds, Pajaritos’ collection which was also shortlisted for the House & Garden Craft Prize.
Where to buy: ‘Wee Bird, Pajarito – 11 – Kingfisher’ by Juli Bolaños–Durman, £4,800
Looking for more global design fair news? Read Owen’s summary of Milan Design Week below.
Design delights to take home from this year’s Milan Design Week
