Wedgwood in bankruptcy

One of our favorite places to visit when we go to England to buy has always been the Wedgwood potteries at Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent England. We have loved watching the manufacture of Wedgwood jasperware and dinnerware on the factory tour and lingered long watching the skilled craftsmen making the delicate bone china flowers by hand that decorated specialty pieces. I am heartbroken to see the end of a wonderful tradition of workmanship and art.

Wedgwood, had been acquired several years ago by Royal Doulton, had also been merged with Waterford Crystal and was doing okay...even building and opening in late 2008 a wonderful museum in Barlastan. But the economic crunch meant they couldn't continue.

At the moment, no one is sure what will happen. Will this really be the end of china making in England? The end of beautiful patterns and skills that have taken generations to perfect? We hope not. We'll post if/when we find out anything else.

I have been SUCH a bad blogger!!! I can't believe it...life just happens and another day is gone. BUT plan to do better.

I have just added a fabulous Royal Winton teapot on Time Was Antiques.
The teapot is very different than the chintz patterns people usually think of in conjunction with Royal Winton, and also was made just prior to or very early in Royal Winton's association with Grimwades, an association they are famous for, whom they merged with in 1930.

The unusual teapot (and we also have a tall jug or pitcher in the same pattern) is in a pattern called Imari which was very popular from the late victorian times until about the 1940s. The pattern and colors are taken from the Japaneses patterns of the same name and region. The Imari pattern is rarely seen because relatively few items in the pattern were made, but I LOVE it! Talk about colorfull! What a terrific decorative accent as well as an elegant way to pour out at your next tea party!

Well, today I am busy adding more items from our last English buying trip. I am bound and determined to get them all on in the next month or so, so...back to work!

Well it's july already!!!!! We are holding over our 50% jewelry clearance.

We had an antiques brick & mortar shop for 25 years and my husband was a diamond setter and jeweler for 38 before he retired. We closed the business to go exclusively online 6 years ago. Our jewelry was one of our best sellers in the shop but hasn't sold as well online because you can't actually see the quality and there is so much dubious stuff out there so we are liquidating our fine jewelry and are going to stick to vintage costume ( we have a safe full).

So 14kt, 10kt & 18kt with diamonds, rubies, emeralds & other precious & semi precious stones are on sale to clear. There are some incredible deals.


We are still adding items from the last English buying trip (we got back in May). Just hit the Emma Bridgewater pottery Birds mugs. Great sellers from a fab contemporary English potter. They usually sell out quickly. We have Blue Tits, Tawny Owls, Black Headed Gulls and Pied Wagtails. CUTE!!!!


Went up to Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park yesterday for a fabulous view of the Olympic peninsula all the way across to Victoria, BC Canada. Gorgeous. Summer is really here and we are loving it!! But I sure do love opening the packing boxes from England...just like Christmas in June & July!

Have a great day!

Back from England...June Jewelry Sale

Well, we're back from our English buying trip. Had great weather for the most part and pretty successful trip. Have all sorts of neat items arriving. We find it's like Christmas! You have forgotten what you found 6 weeks ago when you packed the container. Amazing!!!!

We have brought home LOTS of British royal commemoratives, Wedgwood, Shelley China, small silver items like knife rests, open salts, sugar tongs and other fun things and are listing them just as soon as we can get them inventoried and photographed.

We bypassed London this year because of the hotel costs...they went up 30-60% over last year...and stayed in other areas of the country. You can see the new items at Time Was Antiques.


JUNE JEWELRY SALE

Also at Time Was Antiques
we are having our first ever jewelry clearance. We are calling it the JUNE JEWELRY JUBILEE and most items of 14kt, 18kt, 10kt gold, sterling silver etc are 50% off. The reduced items include diamonds, emerald, sapphires, semi precious stones, and the last remaining stock of jewelry from the King Tut exhibit in 1974 in San Francisco, Calif. Neat!

Well, we are going to look for the final house furnishings needed today since our September move, rugs & curtains. Should be fun but I know it will be tiring. It's been a cool winter & spring, 8-12 degrees below normal & the coolest for 20 years. So much for global warming....at least here. But....we love the sea air, so no complaints.

Have a great day!!!

Camden Stables And Camden Locks Fire Tragedy

I am grieving for the loss of a fun antiques area in London last week by fire.

The area called Camden Stables Market in northern London
had a disastrous fire the evening of 9th Feb in a favorite area for us to go on our annual English buying trips. The area of Camden Town has several venues including the Stables Market including the old Horse Hospital, Camden Lock and Camden High Street with Camden Passage. The fire involved the Stables Market and part of the Lock market.

The photo at left is the Camden Town Crier outside the market on a Saturday which is a peak time. The man facing the camera in the rear is my DH. The crier was pressed into service this last Saturday as traders set up makeshift stalls and shared whatever areas were undamaged. A neat photo from 2 days after is a local pub with the menu boasrd outside reading "We're not burning...come inside for cold berr...Free drinks for firefighters".

The are has seen it's bit of controversy lately with the redevelopment plans scheduled to close the market anyway and redo it. Many fear it would mean an end to the centuries old small traders...that they would be displaced in the construction with upmarket chain stores which we hope won't happen.

We have formed relationships with several traders in the Horse Hospital adjacent to the Stables Market and it would be a shame to see them routed out by a fancier chain store.
Here are a few fire photos I found from the BBC website. One is of the locks next to the Stables where you can catch a canal boat back through Regent Canal to Regent Park which we loved doing in the good weather at the close of our shopping the markets for a leisurely way back to central London...especially as some of the tube stops don't run on Sat. afternoon.

Best wishes to all the traders at the markets and hope you are back up and functioning soon!
Cheers

Back on the Blogging trail!!!

After being of the blog for a few months...settling in after a move coupled with our busiest season, I'm back at it.

Hope Valentine's Day was a sweet day. Today, the 16th is our 34th Wedding anniversary so we just got back from a fabulous dinner at our favorite restaurant in Sequim called Alderwood Bistro http://www.alderwoodbistro.com. They do a cedar planked fish with fresh organic baby vegetables that is absolutely perfect! Slow food!!!!

Our websites had a wonderful holiday season with lots of business. We are back from a short after Christmas break and are busy loading inventory. We have a bit of stock left from last year's English buying trip and our next is coming up in April so I'm trying to get caught up.

I was also interviewed in the current issue of Tea House Times by Lady Gayle. You can access that at http://www.teahousetimes.com.

We have been adding some great items. We have added some English hallmarked silver watch fobs and watch fobs used as necklace pendants were featured in the January issues of both Victoria Magazine and Country Living. Amazing! They are certainly a fun accessory and I am thrilled that these wonderful ltiile collectibles is gaining recognition and appreciation.
You can see our current stock of these little cuties at Time Was Antiques . Watch fobs were a victorian must-have to decorate a pocket watch chain. Sometimes they were purely decorative and sometimes they were awards and medals. Mostly sterling silver but sometimes decorated with gold appliques or enamel work, with or without a monogram. Many were little works of art with engraving and beautiful cut work as you can see in the example above. They are certainly a neat collectible today.

Well, back to adding inventory to the websites. We recently opened a carton from our last buying trip to England with an estate collection of salts and a collection of British royal commemoratives we acquired while there so look for those items in our New Items category.

I'm baaacckk!!! Whew...a few months with NOTHING because it's been so hectic!

We moved home & business at the end of Sept. from Oregon to Washington to the top of the Olympic Peninsula. We are just across the Strait of San Juan De Fuca from Victoria, BC and the San Juan Islands, just to the west of the Puget Sound.

We have a great location and more warehouse which is very good, as now I can actually find some of the crates from our last English buying trip.

We had our first snow on the surrounding Olympic Mountains in Olympic National Park just to the south of us. It's beautiful. And having lived for years at 5,000 feet with lots of snow it's great to have it up THERE.

We have the office and photo room set up and have gotten back in the groove with photographing great items for the websites. We have almost 2,000 items online at Time Was Antiques at http://www.timewasantiques.net
and will be adding more every day.

VICTORIA Magazine is Back!!!! My favorite for years until 2002, I think has been republished. You can see more info online at http://www.victoriamag.com/
We are so excited. Like meeting a close friend you haven't seen in a while and realizing just how much you have missed her.

We are part of a cooperative full page ad in Victoria by one of the other publications I advertise in, Tea House Times. You can visit them at http://www.teahousetimes.com.

So, we are back on track and excited about the coming holidays. I have gourds, autumn leaves and red candles on the table and am enjoying the crisp air and the anticipation of new traditions to establish in our new hometown.

Pull up a chair, fix a cup of tea or hot cider and browse our fine English antiques and collectibles at http://www.timewasantiques.net.