100 years since the day Britain went to war in 1914--Red Poppy Exhibit at the Tower Of London

Today marks the 100 anniversary of the day England entered the Great War, the war we know as World War I

In this photo from Getty Images, you see the red ceramic poppies that have been "planted" in the exhibit in honour of the centennial date of October 15, 1914 in the artist's installation by Paul Cummins called Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red.  The exhibit includes over 120,000 hand made ceramic poppies.  Here is the view from above the Tower Of London...

 

which so effectively looks like the spilled blood of the soldiers who gave their lives in what was supposed to be "The War To End All Wars"...

  

Poppy planting for the installation was visited by royalty like Prince William, Catherine and Prince Harry...

 

 and assisted...albeit ceremonially...by all branches of service. This photo is of 3 generations of Grenadier Guardsmen...the oldest now a Chelsea Pensioner, the middle now a Yeoman Warder at the Tower, popularly known as a Beefeater, and a present day Grenadier Guard. My husband was a Coldstream Guardsman, a brother regiment in the Queen's Brigade Of Guards.

To read my previous post about a Royal Albert Crown China commemorative teacups trio from 1914, click HERE

to read an account in the Mail Online about the installation with a video as well, click HERE

A day to remember with sorrow for loss...wish we could all learn from the terrible history of war.... 

World War I China From Royal Albert, The Victoria And Albert Museum

It's been awhile...but life happened, and I had to take a break from one of my blogs...and this was the one that was put on hold for awhile. When my husband was having a bit of a bad patch with Parkinson's Disease, I just didn't have time for everything...any of you ever feel like that????

I think what prompted me was finding this...a fantastic teacup trio from World War I with a 1914 mark by Royal Albert Crown China, England...the early version of Royal Albert China.

The war here was called The European War, and was thought to be "The War To End All Wars" and how I wish that had been the case. The cup and plate bear the words:

 No Price Can Be To High When Honour And Freedom Are At Stake

and that was a very popular slogan at the time.

 

 The flags of France, Russia, Belgium and Japan are depicted in hand painted enamel on transfer with the slogan "United We Stand". These nations were allies of England during the war...but think of what happened in the next decades....

This is the mark...very different from the Royal Albert, England marks we are all familiar with...There is also a cream pitcher in the pattern as well...

Patriotic china from World War I is pretty rare today...really historic survivals of a time that is long past.....for more info on these items at Time Was Antiques, click on the photos...

I thought I'd share a visit a couple of years ago to our favorite Victoria & Albert Museum in London...affectionately known as The V&A. We visit pretty well every time we are in London. The collections are pretty well everything you could possibly want to see from ancient to modern.

The last visit, we spent a lot of time in the English Arts And Crafts exhibit...it is synonymous with lovely hand crafted  items and parallels the Aesthetic Movement in the US. It's one of my favorite design periods. The 1860s ignited a reaction to the Industrial Revolution's mass produced goods and artists like William Morris, Phillip Webb, Archibald Knox and others pioneered a return to hand crafted items of beauty. William Morris famously said:

 “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” William Morris, 1834-1896

 

This is an Archibald Know sterling silver with stones and enamel box at the Victoria and Albert.

This is a display of everyday kitchen items but decorated beautifully despite being utilitarian objects. I actually took this photo because we had the ivory crumber on the wall there in the shop at the time I took the photo....

There is a large display of Arts And Crafts china and silver as well. 

And I loved this large Wedgwood jasperware jardinere.  There is always too much to see and not enough time at the V&A!


Thanks for joining me! It will be nice to connect with friends through this blog again.
Cheers!