Teacup Tuesday, Early Staffordshire Shell pattern, Victorian Carpet Balls or Bowls

Hello and welcome to Teacup Tuesday with these fine blogs:

Wanda Lee~ http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/ 

Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday 
Pam~ http://breathoffreshair-paperbutterfly.blogspot.com/ 
Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday 
Wanda Lee~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/
Tea For Two and Wednesday Tea For Me and Thee 
Donna~  http://thehomemakingarts.blogspot.com/ 
Tuesday Tea 
Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/
Tea Party Tuesday 
Lady Katherine~ http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/ 
Teatime Tuesday

Sandi ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com/

Tea Time Tuesday

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Teacup Tuesday

Today I am sharing mid Victorian Early Staffordshire teacup trio with the prettiest seashell motif. The set of cup and saucer with matching plate was made in the Staffordshire region of England somewhere between 1879-1890. The material is called soft paste porcelain and could have been made by any one of several potters in the region.

Isn't that the prettiest pattern? I really love the mid Victorian Staffordshire patterns. The design is usually classed as Aesthetic Movement, or English Arts And Crafts. I love that period! 

For more info on the Early Staffordshire seashell teacup trio at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos. 

Okay...what is this???

  

I'll tell you it measures 3.5 to 4 inches in diameter. A large marble? That's not to far off. This is a Victorian  carpet ball or carpet bowl (as in carpet bowling) which were a big fad in the early to mid Victorian era ending mostly around the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Carpet balls were made of fired clay and decorated with many cheerful patterns and colors and were used to play an indoor game similar to lawn bowling or like curling. There was a set of 12 balls of the large size and one small white ball called the "jack". Like curling, the team closest to the house at the end of the game with their balls won. The balls usually show round dents or concoidal impact marks and are extremely hard to find. I sold the last I had about 3 months ago and there must have been a mention of them in an article of magazine because I sold the last 4 to one lady but had at least 10 other inquiries, emails & calls during the next week.  They have been used by designers in the past to heap in bowls for an interesting decorator touch and a few years ago Bombay Company carried some made in china fancy glazed ones in pretty florals.  I wish I had sazed photos of all the patterns and colors of the antique ones I have had over the years, but I still had these photos in the archives:

The plaids were especially popular as Queen Victoria was quite addicted to plaid and it became wildly popular all over England.

So that's your bit of useless trivia for the day! Have fun visiting the other blogs for Teacup Tuesday! 

August from Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady, Teacup Tuesday, Zara's Wedding, Scotland Shelly Thistle Teacup

I am joining Teacup Tuesday and Sandi for Tea Time Tuesday today . The more the merrier...I just love seeing the fab teacups all you ladies share!

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Teacup Tuesday

Wanda Lee~ http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/ 
Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday 
Pam~ http://breathoffreshair-paperbutterfly.blogspot.com/ 
Teapot and Tea Things Tuesday 
Wanda Lee~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.com/
Tea For Two and Wednesday Tea For Me and Thee 
Donna~  http://thehomemakingarts.blogspot.com/ 
Tuesday Tea 
Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/
Tea Party Tuesday 
Lady Katherine~ http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/ 
Teatime Tuesday 

This is one of my favorite books. The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden was written in 1906 and is a scrapbook, diary and sketchbook of a lady living in Warwickshire, England close to my husband's birthplace. I love her watercolor nature sketches. She records almost daily what she has seen or observed and  quotes bits she has read or heard that catch her interest. A truly enchanting view and record of a lost time in what was then rural England. The area now is pretty much all built over.

Mottoes for August

"All the tears St Swithin can cry

St Bartlemy's mantle wipes them dry"  

Note: St Swithin's Day is traditionally July 15th, St. Bartlemy's is another name for St. Bartholomew is usually celebrated on August 24th of the Anglican calendar

"St. Bartholomew (August 24th)

Brings the cold dew"

"If the 24th of August be fair and clear

Then hope for a prosperous autumn that year"

Poetry for August

"Fairest of months!  Ripe summer queen

The hey-day of the year

With robes that gleam with sunny sheen,

Sweet August doth appear"

by R. Combe Miller

The moor cock springs on whirring wings

among the blooming heather,

Come, let us stray our gladsome way

And view the charms of nature,

The rustling corn, the fruited thorn,

And every happy creature"

by Robert Burns

And in Scotland at Balmoral Castle for her summer holiday, Queen Elizabeth attended the wedding Saturday of her eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips to Mike Tindall. Zara is the daughter of the Princess Royal, Princess Anne.

And in celebration of the Scottish theme of the week with the wedding in Edinburgh, here is a Shelley China Thistle design cup and saucer that I love.

And to go along with that, an antique Victorian silver plated thistle knife rest that is so cute! Knife rests were another of the great Victorian table top gadgets the Victorians were so fond of. Because table cloths were so difficult and time consuming to launder, the knife rest kept dirty knives off the tablecloth so helping keep it clean. There were sizes for table knives and larger ones for carving knives. A great Victorian dining gadget!

For more info on the Shelley teacup or thistle knife rest at Time Was Antiques, just click on the photos.

http://silkenpurse.blogspot.com/