// QUEEN BEE

DC IS BUZZING ABOUT WASHINGTON DESIGN DOYENNE ANNA WEATHERLEY AND HER NEWEST CHINA COLLECTION.

DC is buzzing about Washington design doyenne Anna Weatherley and her newest china collection.

“My work is inspired by 18th- and 19th-century botanical art,” says Anna Weatherley, a Washingtonian who has been designing hand-painted porcelain in her Budapest studio for more than a quarter of a century. Her latest collection, which is being carried at Dalton Brody (3412

Idaho Ave. NW, 202-244-7197; daltonbrody.com), draws upon the works of French botanical painter Pierre-Joseph Redouté. “I greatly admire his art: the finely detailed, delicate paintings of flowers, butterflies, and tiny insects,” she says.

Weatherley began her illustrious design career in fashion, after studying textile design in Sydney, Australia. Vogue editor Anna Wintour once commissioned Weatherley to create a pair of cachepots based on the works of British botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker for Lady Diana. Former First Lady Laura Bush commissioned a 75-piece informal dinner service by Weatherley for the White House inspired by a centuriesold magnolia tree in its garden.

Now, many exclusive retailers, such as Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Barneys New York, carry Weatherley’s work. She also has a private studio in Rosslyn, Virginia, where she sells her one-of-a-kind jewelry as well as her limited-edition porcelain (by appointment only).

“I like to set beautiful tables,” says Weatherley. “I always mix and match. When people visit my studio, I tell them to pick their flowers. That way each time you buy a table setting, you make your own garden.”

Anna teatherley’s designs are usually inspired by nature, like this hand-painted porcelain bowl ($350) from her spring collection. It can be used as a fruit bowl or to hold flowers or plants.