Friday, January 8, 2010

Snowed in again...




Another snow storm and getting a little stir crazy, so I  took down one of the Christmas trees.  While in the dining room,  I put some of the dishes away that we had washed and left until later to put into the built-in buffet.  While moving things around in there, I found some things that were stored away for awhile and this saucer came out.

I like to collect things that are well done artistically and this illustration on this plate fascinated me.  I found it at a large flea market area on the North shore of Minnesota.  All summer they leave out large tables, night and day, covered with dishes and such things.  They have tarps that they put over it all when it rains but it is a lot of tarps that they need to cover them all.   We haven't been up there of six years so I must have bought it back then sometime and we just stuffed it in the buffet.




I at first thought it was hand-painted but now I see that it is a great stencil of a painting.  I also found that the saucer is a little rare, made in the 1935 time era, in England.  When I researched it, I found companies that were searching for everything in the set.  They actually had saucers but cups get broken more easily and they were looking for them.  You could buy from the company and also put your wish list on there if you wanted to find something.

No, I am not going to collect a set of dishes when I only have one.  It just makes me a little curious if I could ever buy a cup to go with it.  There were two variations of the Greenwood Tree pattern and mine is with the gold trim.  The other pattern has a green glaze trim and the handles of the cups are glazed green.

On ebay, I found a person who sells out things like this and she had one item that I wouldn't want in that pattern.  The plates are neat but I am still not going to do anything with this.

One has to wonder, how the one saucer got to an area near Silver Bay, Minnesota.  One also has to wonder if it ever was a complete set or they had just the cup and saucer.  I always find the history to be interesting and one would love to follow it's movements just like we do with genealogy. We bought a very nice set of dishes at that Minnesota flea sale for ten dollars and we  still use them everyday.  I assume the owners actually could be going to the cities and be bringing things up from estate sales there and in Duluth too.




Something else that I found in the buffet today.  I pick up marbles and put them in my pocket when I would find them down at my parents place.  I must have found this, brought it home and dropped it into a vase.  I found it there along with the other in the photo.  I remember having glass marbles that looked like that as a kid. It actually had a broken chip in it so I can sit it down and it won't roll away.

When I was a kid in our old house on the farm, I would put marbles behind a wood block and the remove it and watch them roll to the other end of the room.  It was a crooked floor.

The other marble is one that they call a bisque marble.  In pottery when you fire clay for the first time it is called a bisque firing.  Marbles in the 1900's were made this way, fired balls of clay and then sold to kids.  They are not very uniform and wouldn't roll around much.  I find these out in my garden while digging around in the soil.  I have four or five of them and they are all different sizes and color.  Again, I must have put it in my pocket and then dropped it in the vase which use to be setting out,  kept it safe for me.

It is a time for a change around here. We got out on Tuesday to get ready for this storm.  I doubt we get out any sooner than Saturday.  I hear 27 degrees above is coming sometime next week.  That will be a heatwave.   Thanks for reading.....

8 comments:

Valerie said...

A fascinating tale about the Royal Albert, Larry. It's a beautiful design. I believe I had heard of the Greenwood Tree design but can't remember where. Probably on one of those antique shows on the television.

Alan Burnett said...

Fabulous marble photo. I too love old marbles and can still remember the ones of my youth. Shades and colours you would never see made these days. Perhaps you can buy old marbles on E-Bay. I must check.

Hilary said...

Beautiful patterns - both on the saucer and the marble. I thought that second marble was a dried out mandarin orange at first. Of course that streaked marble would have to be huge. ;)

Sunny said...

Your posts are so much fun. Your saucer is such a pretty pattern. I pick up odds and ends like that at flea markets too.
I had so many marbles when I was little but now I have lost them all! LOL
It's snowing here again...brrrr!
Sunny :)

A Brit in Tennessee said...

What beautiful pieces Larry !
The Royal Albert pattern is just gorgeous, I didn't know the history on the Greenwood Tree.
I love marbles too, I have a Mason jar filled with all sorts.
Lovely post.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I collect marbles too..but only here and there..and dice..I collect way too much stuff. I love the plate too..very interesting. Yes I used to collect sets of dishes too...pathetic isn't it? I have not seen this pattern before..but I hope you find a cup to go with your saucer! :)

Ezhilan said...

I like the pleasing natural scene painted on the plate and the stories behind it. I too have interest in preserving some old things.

The Retired One said...

Loved that little saucer..but I agree, wonder if there will ever be enough cups found to match up with the old saucers left.
My hubby collects marbles too and we often find more here on our lot and garden. It is so fun to find stuff in the dirt when we dig...we have found several old bottles too.