Sunlight streams through the windows putting a spotlight on shelves full of ceramic objects that have a retro look and are the product of quirky humour.
There's the bestselling iconic biltong plate, a white pottery skull that takes centre stage on a heavy grey ceramic plate.
There's a range devoted to South Africa's favourite cause –the rhino –where the national treasure is seated and in the form of a butter dish. Another rhino has been sawed in half to create a front-and-back herb planter.
And then there are objects of suburban nostalgia like garden gnomes and pieces that induce childhood flashbacks to mechanical robots, kewpie dolls and toy vintage cars. All of these are dipped in creamy monochromatic colours, in shades that remind me of ice cream.
The shop's creative director, Rial Visagie, says the ranges “try and capture unique moments in life. A lot of our first range celebrated items from my childhood.”
He opened the store in Linden, an area he describes as “a village in a big city”, in March and it's already become the haunt of stylists and decor magazine editors.
Before that he worked in an organisation supplying corporate gifts made by people living in rural communities.
But bored by the routine and wanting to expand creatively he bought a ceramic factory and with a sculptor and mould-maker set about bringing his design ideas to life.
His ceramics seem to have fed an appetite for affordable design objects – within the first few months he was supplying stores countrywide and, when we spoke, was about to ship his first export order to Australia. The company's employee numbers have grown from four to more than 10, its Facebook page has fielded inquiries from a large number of places and he has plans to open a factory in Cape Town.
But for now he has enough to do with refreshing his product range every three months. Next up: aliens and spaceships.
Visagie says he wants to create items that are locally designed and made– South African ceramics made for South Africans. Affordability is also on the priority list so you can pick up gifts for under R100 or spend about R800 on the largest biltong plate.
I mention the humour in his work and he says: “I think South African designers tend to be very serious about what they do. What's amazing for me is that my products make people smile. Before this no one got my sense of humour.”
The Ceramic Factory is at 59 4th Avenue, Linden. See Ceramic Factory on Facebook