I scored some nice stuff at yard sales this season here in the Catskills.
Total cost for new pretties: $20.60.
Most pieces are American manufacturers going for a French look. The delicacy of real 19th century Theodore Limoges porcelain and Rococo mirrors isn’t quite there, but they’re nice enough and the prices were right.
The first, my favorite, is a lidless c. 1900 R. S. Prussia sugar bowl, $10. It’s not the usual ‘over-the-top Victoriana’ one thinks of when R.S. Prussia is mentioned, and sure enough a few minutes at an R.S. Prussia information site exposed mine as a fake! The period isn't after 'Prussia' and the R & S are crooked.
Oh, well. I love it anyway, and it’ll always be a great conversation piece!
An Onondaga Pottery Company (backstamp: O.P. Co. Syracuse China) c. 1897 luncheon plate with a Limoges look, 50 cents. O.P. Co. china was mass produced here in New York and the first in America to produce semi-vitreous (translucent or glasslike) china in 1895.
A c. 1900 Angelus sauce boat by Homer Laughlin, $1.50. ‘Antique dinnerware is identified by the name of the manufacturer, plus a name given to the particular form of all of the pieces making up a set (called the shape name), plus a name given to the colored decoration (called the pattern name). The Angelus shape was a favorite with both the Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs 1900 - 1910, the pattern is a band of leaves. Patterns were usually applied after the initial firing, and (oddly) makers rarely named them.’ --From Turn of the Century American Dinnerware 1880s – 1920s by Joanne Jasper.
Catalog picture of the Homer Laughlin Angelus shape c. 1900
from "Turn of the Century American Dinnerware 1880s – 1920s" by Joanne Jasper.
Tiny butter pats from Knowles, Taylor, Knowles (backstamp: Semi-Vitreous Porcelain K.T. & K. Co.) of East Liverpool, Ohio, $4. They may be the c. 1904 St. Louis shape. Love the pink and blue sprays reminiscent of Theodore Limoges.
Catalog picture of the Knowles, Taylor, Knowles St. Louis shape, c. 1905
from "Turn of the Century American Dinnerware 1880s – 1920s" by Joanne Jasper.
What touches me the most about antique dinnerware is I’m merely the next person in the legacy of the piece, first owned, perhaps, by a young bride. I can see her, wearing a high-necked lace blouse and her hair in a Gibson Girl pompadour, reaching into her inherited cabinet, then tenderly lifting the brand new oyster nappy from her collection to admire it. (A nappy is a small uncovered serving bowl. I’m most attracted to pieces the average 21st century person won’t recognize, like bone dishes.)
How thrilling it would be to receive this calling card rather than a Tweet…
…on the other hand, the Industrial Age owners of this factory were proud of it right down to the unabashed depiction of filthy smoke on their advertising.
A tiny shot glass for 10 cents. Beautiful, useless things. Love them.
A corroding salt and pepper set from Hong Kong that made me smile for some reason, $3.
And last, a small Syroco mirror, $1.50. It still hasn’t spoken to me on how it’s getting refinished and where it’s going.
When you come upon treasures like this it’s worth the slog through fruitless Saturday mornings offering only baby clothes and VHS movies!
Things are winding down at work and I don't have any shoots scheduled, so I've actually been able to spend significant time catching up with my favorite blogs. I'm ever so grateful for your comments, and I hope I'll be able to linger on your pretty pages and let you know -- for real -- how I love you all!
Until next time, stay shabby!
I'll be sharing this with:
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