The company is a partnership of renowned designer Stevens Vaughn and his business partner Rodney Cone. After years of working for others in the home decor industry, they set out on their own - with Vaughn handling the sculpting that starts each piece.

Kaldun & Bogle's design direction comes from when Vaughn worked in Italy. "I was very impressed that Italians are more concerned with the spirit in which a product is created. They sculpt with the knowledge of where the final product will be used and the prominence it will play in people's lives. They paint the ceramics fast and with passion. They like to say their technique is easy on the eyes and the more you look at it, the more you love it," Vaughn said in a feature article in Tableware Today.

Vaughn sculpts most of the pieces by hand, initially. And, he's been working with rural communities in China, lecturing on sculpting. In 2007, he and Cone spent time in Sikkim, a Buddhist country high in the Himalayas, where their "spirits were fed," sharing their product development experiences. They were even invited to Iceland for a medieval late summer feast.

"We recognize that people need to be fed spiritually as much as they need to be physically nourished," he said. "And, when we set the table we take time to feel love for the people we're serving. It's a ritual that must be honored. I like inspiring people, of creating transformational moments. That's why I create these products, to bring joy to people. I was once asked if I could only do one thing for the rest of my life - what would it be. I'd throw dinner parties!" Vaughn said. "The dining room table is where it all happens and aren't we lucky to make the products that do on that dining room table."