A little Royal Albert

Well, I am joining in again with Teacup Tuesday! Today's cup is another pretty art deco chintz design and I am lucky enough to have a trio. It has the same pattern as the CWS cup I posted a while back and the cup in my blog header, but this time it has white panels, blue lines and green edging. I really love the colours of these flowers, so maybe it is not so surprising it pops up in my collection so often.

The handle is classic deco in a lovely soft green. 

Here is the backstamp. None of my chintz reference books have any reference to Royal Albert designs so I can only guess it must be 1930's ish because of the handle. It feels like a vintage rather than repro piece.



My tea today is green tea with peppermint and a lovely lime and coconut cupcake. I made these for a picnic yesterday which we had with friends near the sea - here.

This is another recipe from an amazing vegan cookbook that I cannot recommend highly enough if you love making cupcakes.



Tonight we are heading off for a very quick shopping trip to France. Top of my list will be my favourite Moroccan Mint tea bags that only seem to be available in France.

I am down to my last 5 tea bags and this is a serious state of affairs! How many boxes of tea fit in a shopping trolley I wonder?

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here or at Martha's blog here. You can find links to other people participating in Teacup Tuesday on these blogs too.

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

Elaine

Sweet Pea Tea!

I have missed blogging here for a couple of week's as life has been a bit hectic for me, not least needing to spend time in the veg patch getting things organised for the new growing season. With Easter weekend, I decided I had to make time for taking my pictures and for making a lovely chocolate cake for our Easter celebrations.

My choice of cup today is a gorgeous Royal Winton trio in the delightful Sweet Pea pattern. This is one of the most popular patterns for chintz collectors and as a result pieces always command a high price, so I was very pleased to add this lovely trio to my collection.

According to one of my chintz reference books, Collecting Royal Winton Chintz by Muriel Miller the pattern depicts "vivid blossoms of the sweet pea in colours of pink, deep blue, deep yellow and white" arranged against a background of leaves and tendrils. "The ground colour varies from a pale cream to a deep yellow/ochre".

Sweet peas are one of my favourite flowers and I have just planted some plants this last weekend in the hope of getting a lovely display of these flowers in the summer.

This set has a classically art deco design, a lovely deep saucer and a geometric handle.

Here is the backstamp. The pattern was introduced in 1936. Apparently Queen Mary ordered a teapot, a salad bowl and salad servers in this pattern in 1936. The Queen commended the pattern for "its fresh bright unity of colour". The teapot cost 2/- (10p) and the salad bowl and servers 3/6d (17.5p). Oh for a time machine to go back in time for some china shopping!

Here is the chocolate cake I made, this is egg and dairy free, including some of my favourite white chocolate buttons. I used a vintage pink plate for the cake, I think this colour always looks lovely for serving chocolate.

Here is my scrumptious teatime treat, served with decaffinated Earl Grey tea - served in the gorgeous warm sunshine we had over the weekend - perfect!

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here or at Martha's blog here. You can find links to other people participating in Teacup Tuesday on these blogs too.

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

Elaine

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

Down the primrose path!

I decided a while back when I was sorting out cups and saucers to share here, that I would save this one until I could see the sign that spring was definitely springing in my garden - the first primroses - and here they are!

So in honour of spring on the way here is my Primrose cup manufactured by Bourne and Leigh of Burslem.
 

This is such a pretty pattern, not least because of the pretty edging inside the tea cup.

As is so often the case, my cup shows some wear and a little chip. I actually have two teacups, a jam pot and a large dessert bowl in this lovely pattern. The bowl was a silver wedding present from my brother and looks perfect filled with strawberries.

Here is a closer look at the saucer....

..... and the backstamp.

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

A Gladstone design

Unfortunately I ran out of time last week to post this cup in time for Tuesday, so I am trying harder this week. This is an interesting floral patterned cup, although it may not be immediately obvious from the outside of the cup.

Look inside and on the saucer though and the pretty design is revealed!



This design is made by Gladstone in bone china and the main flower looks like a primrose, with its quilted leaves, but I have not been able to find it on the internet anywhere. If anyone knows what this design is called I would be interested to know.

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. I will try harder to visit them myself this week!

Thank you for popping by my virtual china cabinet!


Elaine x