Come with me to Tuscany!

Today I have another delicious little treasure from my chintz collection. A Tuscan Ware trio in the Mille Fleuers design - I wonder why it's called that? !

This design has a vibrant colour scheme of a multitude of pink, rose, yellow, and blue spring flowers and green leaves.

 

I love these patterns with a black background, the contrast is so striking and the guilding adds a little extra luxury and the nice thing about this cup is it is in such beautiful condition.

This cup has a really delicate fluted shape which is virtually impossible to show in a picture, but it you can feel it in yor hands because it fits perfectly. The interesting thing about this picture is that it shows the join in the pattern which must always be a challenge for chintzware designers.

The cup handle and inside rim of the cup and the rim of the gently scalloped saucer also has gold detailing.
 

This china is really delicate. When I was taking these photographs I noticed how I could see the sun through the cup.

Here is the backstamp. I haven't been able to find out much about this manufacturer or pattern from my chintz reference books or on the internet.

To celebrate the fact this cup is in such perfect condition I used it for a cup of one of my favourite teas - Cool Mint, made from a blend of spearmint, peppermint, green rooibos and a hint of nutmeg - delicious. Plus a dainty little chocolate brownie. Any brownie experts out there don't look to closely as it is well risen because I had added self-raising flour before I put my brain in gear! I have to say they were still yummy though!

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here. You can find links to other people participating in Teacup Tuesday this week as well, so do visit them. Teacup Tuesday is a collaboration between Terri and Martha - who I always forget to mention - Martha, I am very sorry, do visit Martha and her wonderful collection of teacups here.

Thank you for popping by my virtual cabinet again this week.

Elaine x

Cherry Blossom Time

This week, I have another teacup which seems just perfect to celerate the arrival of spring!

I got rather over enthusiastic with photos today so I hope you will forgive a rather long post!

This is another chintz pattern called May Medley, covered in spring blossoms in pink, white and yellow. This was a delight for me today when I unpacked one of my china storage boxes to find some more teacups to post for Teacup Tuesday and found this treasure that I had completely forgotten about! It was like Christmas!



This is a wide rimmed cup, with gilt details.



One of the internet sites I saw today described this kind of handle as kidney bean shaped. I don't suppose this is a technical term, but I do like it!



This set is a trio with a tea plate to match.



Here is a close up of the back stamp.



Royal Standard was a trade mark on china made by an English company called Chapmans Longton Ltd in Staffordshire. This trademark was used from about 1949 onwards.

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here. You can find links to other people participating in Teacup Tuesday this week as well, so do pop round and visit them too.



Here is the trio with a sprig of cherry blossom from my garden. I had to take some pictures of this tree and it's blossom, which is blooming outside one of my bedroom windows.



This year seeing the cherry blossom has been very poignant. The Japanese people celebrate the arrival of the cherry blossom each year with festivals. This year the arrival of the blossom will be tinged with great sadness for them in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. Looking on the internet for more information, I noticed that cherry blossom festivals in Washington and Nashville are to include fundraising to support the disaster relief efforts in Japan. So this beautiful blossom brings a sad reminder of the tragic experiences of many people in Japan who are in our thoughts and prayers at this time.

Elaine x

My most favourite cup?

If I had to pick just one cup from my collection, this could be the one to rescue - I totally adore everything about this - the pattern and shape and yet it is far from one of the most valuable. 

The view from above shows how the delicate cup is beautifully shaped to reflect the saucer.

The hande is a classic angular, stepped Art Deco shape.

As the backstamp indicates, this pattern was manufactured by CWS - the Co-operative Wholesale Society which would suggest this pattern was made for everyday usage for sale through Co-op department stores. Despite my research, I have not been able to find anything much more about this pattern.

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here. You can find links to other people participating in Teacup Tuesday this week as well, so do pop round and visit them too.

Thank you for popping by my virtual china cabinet!


Elaine x