The Best Stoneware Dinnerware Worth Building a Table Around
September 30, 2026
Stoneware Dinnerware Roundup
Stoneware dinnerware has always been the workhorse of the ceramics world. It’s the material of choice for a certain kind of design-minded, actually-uses-it-every-day household that doesn’t need everything to be matched. It’s less about restraint or occasion (although it doesn’t fall flat there either) than about texture and the way it feels in your hand. Think visible throwing marks and uneven glazes that shift slightly from piece to piece. Where porcelain dresses a table up, stoneware just makes it look like someone lives there, bringing it a sense of depth.
With a plethora of stoneware makers worth knowing, we’ve rounded up the best dinnerware brands from decades-old workshops to a new wave of potters keeping that wabi-sabi feel very much intact.
Mervyn Gers Ceramics
Mervyn Gers Ceramics: The Cape Town Original
Plates (Set of 6) $174
Lidded Pots (Set of 2) $510
The brand has been producing handcrafted ceramics in Cape Town since 2011, and the brand has grown from a handful of people into a team of over 50 artisans. The look is rough and textural, with hand-dipped glazes in rich tones that ensure no two pieces are ever quite alike. The small plates, sized for salads and appetizers, are the easy entry point while the lidded pots lean more sculptural, built for counter display as much as storage.
East Fork
East Fork Everyday 5-Piece Place Setting $182 $164 (10% off)
East Fork Hand-Painted Serving Platter $210
The five-piece Everyday Dinner Set is East Fork’s bread and butter. Their stoneware dinnerware is instantly recognizable for its earthy, speckled glazes and exposed clay rims. The Asheville-based pottery brand was founded by Alex Matisse (great-grandson of the painter Henri Matisse) who built his first wood-burning kiln on an old tobacco farm outside town in 2009. More recently, East Fork has ventured into hand-painted designs: the Tulip Crown platter trades the brand’s signature speckled glaze for loose, brushed tulip blooms, each piece stamped with the painter’s mark.
Villeroy & Boch
Villeroy & Boch Lave Dinnerware Set $600
Villeroy & Boch Lave Covered Butter Dish $116
Villeroy & Boch may be better known for porcelain, but their Lave collection takes a