Monday, January 31, 2011

Aynsley B3024

I found this lovely pink tea cup last year while garage sale-ing.
I love pink, so naturally, this one caught my eye.
I'll take you for a tour around the rim of this cup ...

... First you see the pretty floral decoration ...
... Then there are a few trees and a some birds in the air ... 
 ... What an interesting design!
Here is a picture of the back stamp on this tea cup; I think the number written there is B3024.  I checked the internet for some information.  One site stated that this back stamp was used between 1934-1950, and another site said that it was used in the 1920s and 1930s.
And here was the surprise I discovered once I brought this cup home:
The cup is not sitting on it's proper saucer!!  The pinks are so close, however, that I don't mind.

~ Bone China ~ Aynsley ~ England ~ B3024 ~

You can visit Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations to see more beautiful tea cups!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Paragon - Chatelaine

Here is another gift that I received one birthday.  It was one of my first china tea cups.
It has a petit point floral pattern that is really quite beautiful!
There is a lot of details on this cup. 
~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~
There are different pink and blue flowers ... and one little yellow one on the saucer!
Here is the pretty floral decoration on the inside of the cup.
The cup and saucer have a lovely fluted design.

The back stamp indicates that this cup could have been produced any time after 1963 until the Paragon name was discontinued (1992).
~ By Appointment to her Majesty the Queen ~ Manufacturers of Paragon Fine Bone China ~ England Reg'd ~ Chatelaine ~

You can visit Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations to see more beautiful tea cups!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Royal Albert - Forget-Me-Not

I am joining  Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations for another Tea Cup Tuesday.  Today I want to show you my Royal Albert "Forget-Me-Not" tea cups!

I found this wonderful set while garage sale-ing ...

 There were 4 dinner plates, 11 tea cups, 13 luncheon plates and 6 fruit nappies. (What a combination!!)

The simple blue floral pattern was perfect.  Surprisingly, the price was set at $20 for all. I had to have it, and when I went to pay, the lady tried to persuade me to take another full set of dishes as well for free.

My Forget-Me-Not dishes have became my everyday dishes.  How special is it to eat off bone china every day??

The front of the cups have a generous bouquet of forget-me-not flowers ... 

The back of the cup also has a small bouquet...


And of course there is a cute little flower on the inside of the cup as well!

It looks like Royal Albert is quite fond of the Forget-Me-Not flower, and has released a number of tea cups with this flower with varying shapes of cups and slightly different variations in the picture of the flower and the gold trim. 

I also have a un-named Royal Albert Cup with a slightly different Forget-Me-Not flower picture and a different cup shape.  I will have to share that one with you at a later time. 



This pattern appears to be established in 1950s, but I’m not sure how long it was produced.   I think the tea cup shape is called Countess and the plates are Hampton shaped.
~Forget-Me-Not ~ Royal Albert Bone China ~ England ~

And now I am ready for a cup of Strawberry tea!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Royal Albert - Moonlight Rose (Vase)

Just wanted to share a beautiful vase given to me by my mother and father-in-law for my birthday this past September!  Isn't it wonderful!  (Especially when my husband fills it with flowers!)


(It is the same pattern as this tea cup).
 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Royal Stafford


Here is a pair of simple, yet beautiful tea cups that I wanted to share today for Tea Cup Tuesday.  I am joining  Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations...thank you for hosting!
I found this great green tea cup at a garage sale (like most of my tea cups!).  I liked the delicate leaf pattern against the simple green.
Then came the pink one.  I found this one at an estate sale.  The lady had a very extensive teacup and china collection, and it was difficult to choose which ones I wanted to take home.  I thought it would be perfect to have a matching pair, so I picked up the pink one.
A quick search on the web showed me that there are bright blue, light blue and yellow versions of this tea cup.  I also discovered there is a matching teapot.   For now, I’ll enjoy my set of two!  I read somewhere that these cups were produced in the late 1940’s.
Here are their back stamps:
~ Royal Stafford ~ Bone China ~ Made in England ~

Friday, January 7, 2011

Grandma's Lavender Rose

This is a very special pattern to me.  It is my Grandma’s pattern, Royal Albert - Lavender Rose.  We often ate on it growing up when visiting my grandparents - on special occasions and on ordinary occasions.
I attended a work Christmas party a few years back which included a white elephant gift exchange.  Lo and behold!  Someone brought a random smattering of Lavender Rose china pieces.  Oh, how I wanted it!!  Try as I might, as any good white elephant gift exchange goes, you never end up with what you want.  Luckily for me, however, the final owner of the china didn’t really have a need for it, and re-gifted it to me a few weeks later.  I told my Grandma all about my good fortune, and she was quite excited about it as well. 
The time came when Grandma and Grandpa had to downsize from house to apartment and then from apartment to lodge.  Grandma knew of my love of fine china and so she bestowed upon me her precious pieces of china as her living space became smaller and smaller.
Combining her complete set of china with my mix matched pieces has left me with some unique combinations.  For example, I have 3 cream and sugars!  Her final piece she hung on to was her teapot, as she so wished to serve tea in it when company came to visit.  Then one day when I went to visit her in the lodge, she gave me her teapot.  It had become too much work to make and serve tea from this teapot. 
Both Grandma and Grandpa are gone now, but they will always be close to me in memory.  I will think of them dearly every time I set the table with this precious set of china, three cream and sugars and all.
I believe this Royal Albert pattern was first introduced in 1961.  The cups and plates are in the Montrose shape.  Delicate pink roses adorn each of the pieces.

~Royal Albert ~ Bone China England ~ Lavender Rose ~

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Hammersley & Co 5013

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
This is certainly one of my favorite tea cups in my collection.  I found it at a garage sale, and would have passed right by it, had my husband not pointed it out to me.  I love the beautiful artwork and the unique shape!
Simple red roses framed with black lacy boarders.
The tea cup is perched on a cute little pedestal!

This cup makes me smile when I use it!
 
Here is the back stamp:

I'm joining Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations for another Tea Cup Tuesday. 

~ Hammersley & Co ~ Bone China ~ Made in England ~ 5013 ~


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Addendum 2011-Apr-02:  I found a source on the internet that states that the date of this backstamp would be between 1887-1932.  The backstamp after 1932 contained (Loughton).  I'm not sure that this tea cup looks that old ...
Apparently there are few records of the Hammersley family china manufacturing that show the pattern names and numbers.  I'll have to see if I can't find more information. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-