Ending August With Blue Willow

To close out August, I am sharing a perennial favorite today...various versions of the Willow pattern. Willow has always been popular and therefore was frequently made by various potters. Because of it's long life as a pattern and relative abundance of pieces, it is often overlooked as an important part of pottery design.

It's origins go back to 1792 and Josiah Wedgwood.  

Blue Willow comes from a Chinese legend of 2 lovers, forbidden to marry who elope and are chased by the emperor. At the end, the boy is killed defending his fiance and the girl commits suicide. Sigh...not too cheerful.  

The elements that usually turn up are: of course, the Willow tree, the bridge the lovers crossed to elude pursuers...often with the lovers or with 3 people being variously the lovers and a helper or the lovers and the emperor...

a house they took refuge in and, of course,  always includes 2 birds, doves flying together representing the 2 lovers which has become a symbol of undying love.

It is fun to compare the elements of the design, and the various names as well.

Willow or Blue Willow has been in constant production by at least one poyyrty al though the years since it's inception, and has been made by hundresd over the years...
This teapot is a current version of the design by Johnson Brothers from 2004... but the same cherished elements...

This is a Royal Grafton, England version from the 1940s in bone china.

There are even versions in red, yellow and green, although the blue is the most popular....

This is a red, unmarked early 1920s version in red...

Wedgwood made this Yellow Willow pattern in the 1920s as well...

And Masons, England made this Green Willow version in the 1920-1930s...

And this, a very thin porcelain version from Occupied Japan which dates it from 1945-1954.

And a 1930s version by Royal Albert Crown, England , the early Royal Albert mark, in their version called Mikado, but all the usual Willow elements including the 2 birds. Having it in a pink variation is nice too!

There are just so many other versions and colors you would not believe!

A 1960s version from the North Staffordshire Pottery, that had just been acquired by Ridgway, England in their Willow version...

And another English version from a short lived pottery, Royal Venton, that only operated between 1923-1936.

To go along with all the English Willow, I have out my tin of Harney and Sons Royal English Breakfast which is a nice medium strong black tea I always have on hand...

And I baked a dried cherry chocolate chip cake this week... sort of an amalgamation of 3 different recipe I had around, and it turned out really nicely. We always enjoy a bit of cake at teatime!

So...long live Willow, and may there be many more versions to come to extend a wonderful history!

August Country Diary And Poppies!

August

I have been remiss the last months not starting out the month with my favorite Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady, but...life happens! I had a birthday last week...so I am definitely vintage +++! But here it is...

The reason I try to share the book, is that I get it out at the first of every month...and urge you to find a copy! It is such a window into a bygone era, and I love seeing familiar places...albeit changed...because aout families did and still do live in this area of Warwickshire, England, at the top of the Cotswolds. What an amazing observer and artist Edith Holden was!

The book is full of poems, mottos, quotes, Bible verses and folk wisdom...a joy to revisit often...

And this page is my focus this week, because it features Poppies, and they are the chosen flower of the August Flower Of The Month series teacup from Royal Albert, England...

Pretty ponk poppies and blut cornflowers which are also called batchelor buttons, which I love because they are blue...

I always love finding a Flower of the Month teacups! So fun!

Poppies in the lavender fields at one of our local lavender farms we visited last year... didn't visit this year with all the isolating....

Not especially for a month, but there are lots of poppy themed china... here are a few we have...

Ambleside teacup by Roslyn, England from the 1950s... with pink poppies, daisies and lavender flowers...

a matching cake serving plate....

And poppies in red or orange...

1880s Antique Staffordshire teacup...

Circa 1900 artist painted Haviland. Limoges poppies serving plate...

or even blue poppues... although this plate by Shelley from 1900 in a pattern called Sprays Of Poppies is almost turquoise blue...

And as a blue lover, this is a variety I found which is amazing! Called a Himalayan Blue poppy... I need some for my garden!

I hope you have enjoyed a lovely week and that the poppies bring a bit of cheer to your eyes.
The hot weather is difficult for my husband's disease, and our county is spiking with covid-19 at the moment with new cases so have been unable to spend time with our kids.
But we are content, cocooned and grateful for everything we do have!

Ending with the joy of a lovely poppy collage from Collages My Passion on Facebook

Afternoon Tea Week Birthday Joys Victoria and Wedgwood

Still summer here... and it is Afternoon Tea Week! A Brit thing really, but... that applies to us anyway... not that it isn't Afternoon Tea week every week of the year around here!

Some of this post is from a previous one, but so identical that nothing much has changed. Thanks so much for mail order and phone orders with drive up  pick up!

And we ordered our favorite British tea treats stash!
Jaffa Cakes... the orange and chocolate biscuits ...
HobNobs... our favourite EVER British biscuit... dark chocolate on an oat wholemeal biscuit
and Battenburg Cakes... layered and chessboard assembled cakes covered in a marzipan layer.
Heaven!

And my birthday was the last few days... so my placed an order and picked up...  6 decorated cupcakes from our local award winning bakery That Takes The Cake.

and, like a dodo... I forgot to take a photograph until we were down to the last 2 today... sigh...

These are... in the package... Lemon Limon, and the one on the plate is Champagne French Vanilla.
We also had my husband's favorite Coconut Cream Supreme, Almond Poppy Seed Cream, and 2 chocolates... one a chocolate mint and one for my Honey a chocolate coconut hazlenut cream.

And for tea, I am just finishing up a Harney and Sons Anniversary Blend tea... a nice robust black tea.

The china is the Green Georgian pattern teacup trio by Allertons, England from the 1930s. It came in other colors too, but we only have green at the moment.

I was looking though old Victoria magazines at tea time, and saw this one with Wedgwood jasperware teacups on the front, and had just gotten one, so decided to photograph it that way...

The pretty blue and white jasperware teacup was made in 1959 and features the Sacrifice Figures on the cup and the playing cherubs on the saucer. So charming!

This lovely afternoon tea collage is from CollagesMyPassion on Facebook... gorgeous!

So, lots of lovely tea things this week for Afternoon Tea week... hope there are lots in your week as well!