Welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! I am back from a 2 week holiday and computer break, and I must say it was very refreshing, although I did miss the wonderful posts from all the creative ladies out there! More about our holiday below my teacup post. A linky and list of other tea related blogs is at the bottom!
I have for this Teacup Tuesday one of the oldest teacups I have, and one of the oldest designs. This cup and saucer, of soft paste porcelain...rather than the usual hard paste porcelain we are more familiar with...teacup was made in the Staffordshire England region known as The Potteries between 1850-1870. The design itself was used until the 1950s by hundreds of manufacturers in porcelain after the hard paste porcelain became more popular than soft paste as it was more durable.
This type is generically referred to as Antique Staffordshire. The designs of this type are variously called Sprigged, Chelsea, Grandmother's Ware, Grandmother's, Chelsea Grapevine, etc. They all have applied blue raised and molded decoration on white. A further class adds a copper luster applied to the blue sprigs, as this example shows. The designs are usually baskets of flowers, grapevines or cornucopias. This is a grapevine example. I dearly love this type of Antique Staffordshire. Most early examples are unmarked, some are handleless cups or tea bowls, and I can think of at least 30 manufacturers offhand, with many more if I thought about it, who made variations during it's popularity. Fun! For more info on the teacup at Antiques And Teacups, click on the photos.
And then we went on holiday!
Besides visiting friends, and having friends visit, we also took the Coho car ferry, operated by Black Ball Ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC.
We spent a night at the Fairmont Empress, Victoria BC for my birthday which was earlier in the month...more about that when I get the rest of my photos downloaded.
We also traveled by BC Ferry to Vancouver, BC to visit 2 sets of friends. One dear friend lives in Richmond, just south of Vancouver. She is not far from the Richmond Vancouver Olympics Ice rink and Steveston Harbor where we had dinner.
While we were visiting, she got an email from her friend, a travel agent in downtown Vancouver with space to fill on an Alaska cruise from Canada Place at almost nothing. She couldn't go as she is doing a Canada and New England sailing with her daughter next week, so we booked it. We have never gotten such a deal! We sailed on the Celebrity Millennium and it was fabulous!!!!
Here is the ship at Icy Strait Point, by Hoonah. More of that later...we have a friend there who took us bear watching!
So we had a marvelous holiday, which I will tell you more about next time! Got home yesterday afternoon, have done 1 load of laundry & unpacked 1 suitcase, but that's about it. Dinner has been hauled out of the freezer in bits and pieces, because we just didn't feel like grocery shopping after church today. It can wait! Tomorrow we go get out accumulated mail, ship the orders and do our shopping then.
So this is a pretty short post. But glad to be home. Except...our cat started crying outside the bedroom door at 5am. He said...you are home...now get up and pay me some attention! I made it until 6:20, but gave up then! He has followed us around all day!
Have a great time visiting the other blogs and I hope you have a great day!
Common Ground ~ http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com
Monday
Marketplace
Terri~ http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/
Teacup Tuesday
Teacup Tuesday
Trisha~ http://sweetology101.blogspot.com/
Tea Party Tuesday
Tea Party Tuesday
Teatime Tuesday
Kathy~ http://blissfulrhythm.blogspot.com
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness
Victoria - A Return to Loveliness
Martha~ http://www.marthasfavorites.com/
Teacup Tuesday
Teacup Tuesday
Tuesday
Cuppa Tea
Afternoon
Tea
Michelle ~ http://www.finchrest.com
Tea
On Tuesday
Tea
Tuesday
Wanda Lee ~ http://theplumedpen.blogspot.ca
Tuesday Teatime
Phyllis ~ http://www.relevanttealeaf.blogspot.com/
Tea
On Tuesday
Poetry
In A Pot Of Tea
Bernideen’s ~ http://bernideensteatimeblog.blogspot.com/
Friends Sharing Tea Wednesday
Ivy And Elephants ~http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/
What’s
It Wednesday
Glad you are back from your vacation with an interesting post about soft paste porcelain. I had never heard of it. None of tea cups are that old. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteOh how beautiful this teacup is. I have never seen one like it. Such interesting story too. I grew up in Staffordshire and visited the potteries often with my parents. I must have been too young to take to much notice. :)
ReplyDeleteLooks like you had a lovely holiday,so pleased for you. xx
I love your cup and saucer. I found one saucer like it in a tearoom but it was pretty expensive for only the one saucer. thank you for hosting.
ReplyDelete~Clara
Welcome back, Ruth! Your teacup is lovely and has such a wonderful history attached to it. So glad you enjoyed your holiday! That's a beautiful ship!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Sandi
What a beautiful antique cup and saucer, I have seen this pattern in antique stores and wondered about its origin. The special surprise of a sailing trip is so fortunate! I will look forward to more photos of the ship and its ports of call.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam
That teacup is beautiful! I have never seen one like it. And what a fun trip! Thank you for hosting and have a terrific day!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYour tea cup and saucer are beautiful. I love Victoria BC. I've had tea at the Empress Hotel and visited all the sights in Victoria, and took the ferry to Vancouver for a cruise up the Inland Passage. Vacations are so awesome. Thanks for sharing your beautiful antique tea cup and saucer and your wonderful trip.
xo
Betty
Hello Ruth~ What an unusual cup..Thanks for sharing it and thanks for hosting. Wow, what a lovely trip you had in such a SCENIC area!! LOVE BC, Victoria, Alberta, Orcas Is, ...the whole area is fabulous. When we were there last we had tea at The Blethering Place.
ReplyDeleteshawn
Hello Ruth,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have been a busy lady! What a happy birthday month it has been for you. Happy belated birthday! I am glad you have been having so much fun. Your trip sounds like it was packed full of great things to do.
Your tea cup is very pretty. I didn't know about this type of cup and I am happy to learn. Thank you so much for sharing with us!
Hugs,
Terri
I look forward to seeing your vacation pics!
Your teacup is lovely, beautiful raised design and color. And what a wonderful trip you had! Your cat really missed you:-).....Christine
ReplyDeleteThe teacup is so pretty. How lucky to get a deal on your cruise! We took the cruise in Alaska several years ago and stopped in Victoria. I so wanted to to the tea at the Empress Hotel, but we toured the Butchart Gardens instead. I can't wait to see your pics!!
ReplyDeleteA very pretty teacup Ruth, now that you're back I'll have to add my link. I must say that I am jealous that you stayed at the Fairmont Empress and I just know you will have tea photos to share!
ReplyDeleteJudith
Hello Ruth,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have had a super holiday! Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.
But what I most loved to read was the information about that lovely antique Staffordshire cup and saucer of a kind I didn't know of. It really is a sweet treasure!
Have a great week back home.
Hugs
Hi Ruth,
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Birthday to you. Must have been a great tour with that beautiful ship. Your Chelsea Copper Luster Antique Staffordshire is amazing. never saw a piece before. Thank you for sharing and for your sweet comment on my blog.
Best greetings, Johanna
The cruise and the stay at the Empress... both sound so wonderful. Can't wait to read more. I've never seen a teacup like yours. One of the best things about blogging is learning something new every day.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful trip! I am sure your cat is very happy to have you back! Beautiful photos of your trip!
ReplyDelete