ROCK icon Lemmy was no mug when it came to redefining rock and roll. He took music back to basics, cranked up the volume and played as if his life depended on it. There were no airs and graces.

But now the late rocker is starring on a designer mug as Burslem – mother town of the Potteries – continues to celebrate Lemmy’s legacy hot on the heels of the statue recently unveiled in his hometown honour.

Read more: Statue of Motörhead legend to contain his ashes

The Motörhead founder is the inspiration for a new range of ‘Burslemmy’ ware designed by Moorland Pottery’s director, designer Jon Plant, who says the idea for the initiative came from his own kids.

“My children are Motörhead fans and they got me to watch a documentary about Lemmy,” he explains. “What a bloke! I’d always liked his music, too, but I love him even more now.

“I went to see the statue and chatted with people who had come from all over the world to see it. I didn’t even have to think about it, it was just too good an opportunity to miss.

“There’s a real interest in Lemmy, and the fact that the statue has been erected during Stoke-on-Trent’s centenary year is brilliant. I think it’s giving the city more momentum.”

It is hoped that the Burslemmy brand – it’s already becoming something of a catchphrase locally – will help imaginative and ambitious plans aimed at giving the town a big boost, come to life.

Housed in the Chelsea Works premises that art deco designer Susie Cooper rented from Royal Doulton, which still boasts one of the city’s last surviving bottle kilns, Moorland Pottery is an example of the survival skills required in the British pottery industry.

The range has been launched in collaboration with IFK Legacy CIC, – Lemmy’s full name was Ian Fraser Kilmister – a project with ambitious plans including the renovation of a semi-derelict theatre in Burslem to be named Kilmister Halls.

To learn more about the legacy project, head here. Main image: Jon Plant/Moorland Pottery