Memorial Day, Bletchley Park, World War 1 Teacup Trio, WW2 Tea Cozy

Hi and welcome to Time Was Antiques for Memorial Day in the US...I decided to join Tuesday Cuppa Tea because I have a patriotic World War 1 Royal Albert Crown China, England teacup trio...

The teacup trio was made at the end of the European War...what we call World War 1, and was supposed to be the war to end all wars. Downton Abbey did a wonderful job chronicling the patriotism and optimism at the start of the war, and the shock at the real conditions the soldiers found. The motto on the teacup trio is:

"No Price Can Be Too High

When Honour  And Freedom

Are At Stake"

The design has the British shield and the flags of the allies, including Japan who became one of the main adversaries of WWII. The flags of Belgium, France, Russia and Japan are represented. The color accents are hand applied enamel paint.

,

 Moving on to World War 2, I was reminded of the incredibly important work done at a seccret location in England, that has recently been totally declassified and is now open for tours...Bletchley Park....

On July 15, 2011, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire to unveil a memorial to the World War II codebreakers who worked here clandestinely and were credited with ending the war 2 years earlier and with the stopping the loss of many more lives. 

Bletchley Park is now run by the National Trust and is available for tours and visits...their website is: 
https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/

 photo from BBC.co.uk

The Enigma Machine...

courtesy http://www.bletchleypark.org/

The Bletchley Park secret decoding work resulted in cracking the supposedly unbreakable German codes. The capture of an German Enigma machine resulted in the code being then worked on another Enigma and Colossus system which was the innovative precursor to today's super computer.

Here is a link to information on the various machines at the Bletchley Park website:

The Codebreaking Machines

I grew up with stories about the secret work done during the war as my father was part of the secret OSS or Office Of Strategic Services stationed in England with members of MI5 and MI6.  
My father was the head of a traffic intercept station in the Berkshire village of  Hurley-on-Thames, basically eavesdropping on enemy traffic, transcribing or recording it it, and sending on to Whitehall or Bletchley Park for decoding. He was in charge of the detail and lived at the Manor House in Hurley. 
I have a photo I took of the manor in 1990, but it was not with a digital camera, so can't post it.  I did find a photo of his local while there, The Olde Bell, which is one of the oldest pubs in England. We visited the town and took photos in 1992 for my dad and were able to show them to him just a week before he died unexpectedly.

My father was unable to tell my mother where he was...it was just listed as...a village in England...but managed to let her know by referring conversationally to a book he had just read by Leslie Charteris in The Saint series that was popular in the 1940s. He referred to an incident in a book on a page that was set at The Olde Bell in Hurley so she figured out that was where he was.

Winston Churchill credited the work done at Bletchley Park with winning the war.

Account of the Queen's speech, related info of her visit can be found at:

http://www.bletchleypark.org/news/docview.rhtm/646969

 I have what I call a treasure in the shop...a hand made but unfinished World War 2 silk tea cozy...with an RAF insignia...I have often wondered if it was made from a downed parachute...but have no way of knowing for sure...

The tea cozy was never padded. Wonderful!

We remember....

Thanks for visiting. I will be joining

Tuesday Cuppa Tea 

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!

Tuesday Is Tea Day, Antique Staffs Green Transfer Teacup Trio, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Irish Guards

Hi and welcome to a Tuesday post. I am joining Tuesday Cuppa Tea and the other wonderful blogs (among many others) that are listed at the bottom of the post.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day still...here is an antique Staffordshire teacup trio in a grass green transferware floral pattern. The set was made in the 1870-1890 and I think it's lovely! The set is unmarked, which was quite normal prior to 1891 when potteries were required by law to mark country of origin on their items.  I'd call it shamrock green!

Also on the subject of shamrocks, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William visited the Royal Irish Guards on St. Patrick's Day to present shamrocks to the troops.

Apparently, as reported in an article about the visit, 3 guards fainted during the visit. You hear of girls fainting for the Prince, but the guards go down for Catherine!

The Irish Guards are one of 5 divisions of the Queen's Royal Brigade Of Guards, members of each regiment taking turns changing the guard at Buckingham Palace and other royal monuments like St. James Palace and others. The Guards are:
1) Coldstream Guards (have to put that regiment first as my husband was a Coldstream Guard and found the guard at Buck House)

2) Grenadier Guards

3) Welsh Guards

4)  Irish Guards

5) Scotch Guards

All of them are rigorously trained soldiers and all wear the bearskin hats they are so famous for when on duty at the Palace. You can only tell them apart then by their hat and collar insignias and from a distance by the placement of the buttons on their red tunics. At the bottom of the post, you will find a video of the Duchess of Cambridge's visit. It has to be there because I don't know enough HTML to put it in below this but before my list of blog parties. Sigh...oh to be more techie!  Sorry about the ad to start!

I will leave my posts about Queen Elizabeth's Royal visit to Manchester to a bit later in the week or this will be too long!

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

 Here is the list of blog parties:

 

 

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/

Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday

Angela  http://teawithfriends.blogspot.com/

Tea With Friends

Miss Kathy ~ http://thewritersreverie.blogspot.com/

Celia ~ http://attitudeivlife.blogspot.com/  Afternoon Tea

Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

What’s It Wednesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea, Wellington Art Deco, Victoria Holiday Bliss

Welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea with Antiques And Teacups and the other  wonderful tea related blog parties listed at the end of the post.

A
No surprise to anyone, I love the hand painted on transferware art deco designs of the 1920-1930s and here is another. This is from Wellington China, which was made by J. H. Cope of Stoke-on-Trent, England. The sepia transfer landscape and floral print is hand colored then hand painted with enamel paint by an artist. They are always different, and therein lies the charm of the design.  I love the little humpback bridge! So cute...and nostalgic.

To see more of the art deco teacup trio at Time Was Antiques, just click on the photos.

And here are some fall photo pages from the Victoria magazine special Holiday Bliss edition that came recently. I LOVE Victoria, and have them all. As I sit with my afternoon tea, they are always at hand to be used for inspiration, nostalgia and great recipes!

 This page has a poem by John Donne:

No spring nor

summer beauty

hath such grace

as I have seen

in one autumnal face

I am joining the following tea related blog parties and others. Enjoy the wonderful posts and fellowship!

Ruth ~ http://antiquesandteacups.blogspot.com/
Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Martha~  http://www.marthasfavorites.com/ 
Teacup Tuesday 
Terri~  http://artfulaffirmations.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

Trisha~  http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/ 
Tea Party Tuesday

Lady Katherine~  http://ladykatherineteaparlor.blogspot.com/ 
Teatime Tuesday

Sandi  ~  http://sandimyyellowdoor.blogspot.com

Teatime Tuesday

Ruth  ~ http://timewasantiquesfamily.blogspot.com

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Kathy~  http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com/
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness

 

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!