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

Florence on a Tuesday!

Welcome to my latest post for Teacup Tuesday. I am pleased to share another beauty from my chintz collection, that has been sitting in a box wrapped in newspaper for ages.  So it is nice to put it on display for a while in my virtual china cabinet.

This is the lovely pattern Florence from Royal Winton which was made by Grimwades, who are described in one of my reference books as "the leader in the field of chintz ware" outstripping many other manufacturers in the number of patterns they produced. I adore this design, because the black background shows the beautiful vibrant colours to such great effect.



I tried both flash and natural sunlight today to try and show the colours of this pattern to best effect. I didn't realise until I downloaded these photos, that I had taken a picture that shows the chip in this poor little cup very clearly.

Many of my cherished pieces of chintz have chips or cracks. Chintz is very pricey and perfect pieces are often beyond my budget. So I buy damaged pieces and give them a good home. The busy patterns on chintz often hide the damage quite well in the display cabinet so they don't look too bad!

According to my copy of Collecting Royal Winton Chintz - Muriel M Miller Grimwades introduced chintz patterns in 1913. Florence appears to be a pattern produced in the 1950s. The pattern includes pink and cream carnations, belladonna lilies, and small blue and pink flowers against a black ground. This back stamp includes a registration number printed in gold for Canada.

I had hoped to have some lovely homebaked cookies to show you with my china and a nice cup of tea today, but unfortunately I couldn't control myself and ate them before I got around to taking my photographs today!!

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 tennis set for Teacup Tuesday

My choice for Teacup Tuesday this week is this lovely chintz tennis set. I love this cup and saucer, the colours are really unusual, but they work for me!

There is some wear especially on the cup, but this unusual design has always been a favourite among my chintz treasures.

This design is Royal Brocade, Lord Nelson Ware made by Elijah Cotton of Hanley.

I hope you like this set as much as I do.

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here.

This is a fairly short post as things have been very hectic for me over the last couple of weeks as my husband was suddenly taken ill and had to go into hospital. Cups of tea have been very important over this time, bringing real comfort when I really needed it. Thankfully things now seem to improving a little day by day. I may even be baking again very soon!

Thanks for popping by my virtual china cabinet!

Elaine x

No Teacup Tuesday this week

No post from me this week. I may not be around for some time due to family illness.

Elaine

A little Wedgwood - it's Teacup Tuesday

My post for this week's Teacup Tuesday is this delightful little chintz Wedgwood cup and saucer. This is actually a very small cup, so I suspect it is actually a coffee cup, so I hope I'm not breaking any rules posting this one for TT!

I use two reference books for my chintz collection The Charlton Standard Calalogue of Chintz by Susan Scott and The Chintz Collectors Handbook and Price Guide published by Francis Joseph. According to these books, this pattern was produced around 1936 and is one of only two patterns of chintz produced by Wedgwood. It appears to be known as Columbine, after the beautiful delicate flowers. I grow these in my garden and in the UK we maybe know these better as aquilegias.

Apparently, the Wedgwood company was housed in the Unicorn and Pinnox Works in Tunstall and as a result a number of their backstamps feature a unicorn like this one.

No tea and cakes today as I have been a little too busy - maybe next week!

If you would like to know more about Teacup Tuesday, pop over to Terri's lovely Artful Affirmations blog here.

Thanks for popping by my virtual china cabinet!

My first Tea Cup Tuesday!

This is my first post on the new blog I have set up to let me take part in Teacup Tuesday. I found out about Teacup Tuesday through the Artful Affirmations blog of a fellow crafter Terri. I have linked to her blog in my side bar. I loved the idea of joining in as I have quite a collection of lovely chintz china, but sadly, I do not have the space to display it properly in my little house. I thought I would use this blog as a virtual china cabinet so I could enjoy my collection more and hopefully other people can too!

Tea drinking is an important part of my life, one way I like relax. Tea is the cup that cheers. I like some usunual tea blends and will share some of those here too. I also love to bake and to bake with love. So from time to time I may also share some of my favorite sorts of home-baked goodies along the way!

So here is my first tea cup to share. A beautiful Shelley Chintz cup and saucer in the Summer Glory pattern. I wish I could manage a slightly sharper picture but the light was terrible today.

I won't show you a close up of the cup as it is badly cracked and has seen better days - but it is a pretty pale green colour. Here is the saucer in close up.

Here is the backstamp. This pattern was manufactured in Staffordhsire in England in the 1940s. My cup is the pink version of summer glory.

To celebrate my first ever post I baked some cupcakes. These are golden gingerbread cupcakes with lemon frosting and are based on a slightly adpated recipe from this amazing cookery book - Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World -  how could you not love a book with a title that crazy! I cannot recommend this book highly enough, these recipes are so inventive and so reliable. These cakes are a little extra special as they are spiced with a lebkuchen spice mix I bought back with me from our last holiday in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland. One of our most favourite places in the world and where I always leave a little part of my heart.

Once I had added the lemon frosting and some crystallised ginger and lemon peel, I thought I might give one of my chintz cake stands an outing!

So here is how I enjoyed my reward for setting up my new blog, a cup of my very favourite Marrakech Mint Tea - a very special and refreshing blend of green tea and spearmint made by Liptons and one I can only seem to find in France and a golden moment with my cupcake, using some of my modern chintz china, that may get another outing here on another day.

Thank you for joining me on my first ever Teacup Tuesday!

Elaine x