Sunday, January 15, 2012

Old Britain Castles for Mosaic Monday

 

Tea Pots in Coffeeshop storyboard 4

My husband’s mother collected a set of china by Johnson Bros. called Old Britain Castles.   I remember the whole set being on display in her china cabinet in their home.  As my husband is an only child we inherited it.   The box of china sat in boxes in our basement for a few years before I took it out and displayed it on the hutch in our dining room that my husband made for me.  I guess I was slow to appreciate it.  Transfer ware is a term I did not know anything about until I watched Martha Stewart on the TV and she often talked about it and showed off her collections.  I now look for transfer ware when I am looking at dishes and happen to love it in a brown colour.   The colour pallet that I gravitate to is in earthy colours.   A few years ago while shopping in Williams and Sonoma I latched on to a box of their transfer ware that had a thanksgiving pattern on it.   I could only afford the box of 6 desert plates.   Every Thanksgiving I get them out just to put on the hutch because I do not have enough for everyone to have their pumpkin pie served on them.   This morning I thought I would just photograph my mother-in-law’s pretty blue and cream set of teapot, sugar container and creamer for Mosaic Monday.

Is it cold your way?  It was minus 15C here this morning.   Not a day to go out and do any photographing outside.  I am off to a cooking class this afternoon.  We will be learning to make artisanal bread.  I will try out the new camera feature on my new iPhone.   Have a great day.   Valerie

20 comments:

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Oh, I do love your JB blues, Valerie! Gorgeous, and I imagine they're lovely in your cabinet.

It's pretty cool here too; -12 right now but not a lot of snow. I'm dreaming of Spring myself. Enjoy your class.

Blessings,
Sandi

eileeninmd said...

It is a lovey collection. I am sure you made you husband happy by displaying his mother china too. have a great week ahead!

Rosie Nixon Fluerty said...

That set reminds me of what my granny used to use. When I was a teenager I thought it was so old fashioned...........oh how my taste has changed since then - it's still popular here especially in antique stores.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful set to have as memories of your MIL. The tea set is gorgeous. Mother had blue transfer ware by Johnson Bros. She loved it.

We are in the 2o's, bitter cold, our heat pump broke & our septic is down ... it has been a fascinating couple of weeks ...

Have a lovely week,
TTFN ~
Hugs,
Marydon

A Garden of Threads said...

Hi Val, Still stuffed. Gorgeous mosaic, love the colours.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I love these wonderful dishes in this pretty blue, too! It was nice here today but it's been cold at night...even here in Florida! ♥

Carol said...

Beautiful set, makes a very pretty mosaic! I love transfer ware.
Was freezing here today in NY!

Elaine said...

A stunning blue treasure you have inherited . Sometimes it takes us awhile to appreciate things we thought nothing of when we were young.. Enjoy

podso said...

I too love transferware, and have these in the red and white. You've made a lovely mosaic of them!

Kim, USA said...

I love blue dishes. It's my dream to own like this ^_^ Happy Monday!

Mosaic Monday

Vee said...

Wonderful dishes! Johnson Bros has had so many delightful patterns. I also love brown transferware. Hope that you are able to find more in the Thanksgiving pattern you love.

Judith @ Lavender Cottage said...

It's nice to inherit pretty china and I'm glad you dug it out to display. Hopefully it will be used too and not kept for a rainy day.
How much bread did you two eat? :-)
Judith

Teacup-In-The-Garden said...

I love this dishes!
Have a wonderful week,
Markus

Lorrie said...

What gorgeous transferware, Val. I am drawn to blue and white myself.

The temperature here is about -4 right now (9 pm) which is the coldest so far this winter.

Stay cozy.

My Little Home and Garden said...

Blue and white dishes are so classic. Yours are very pretty. I hope your bread baking went well. It's not something that has turned out well for me, but I should try again. My mom had the touch!

Pamela Gordon said...

Great mosaic. I love blue and white dishes. I also like your open book photo on today's post and remember that old song quite well although I never knew who sang it. Have a good week. Pamela

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Those dishes are soooo pretty!

Blogger is really messing up. I am posting this on everyone's comment. Many of your sites are not showing at all, only goes to white pages. I shall keep trying to view post entries~

Nancy said...

The blue dishes are very pretty but I understand you liking the brown better. I also inherited a whole set of Johnson Brothers dishes in pink. Not my color and really no place to display them.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Your mother-in-law's china looks very pretty and it must make your husband happy to see it on display. I don't have any transferware but I would probably pick a pattern in red if I were to buy it. Mary of the Little Red House often shows her red transferware.

Thank you for your kinds words of sympathy to me on the loss of my Mother. I appreciate it very much.

Georgianna said...

Hi Val! I love this collection – I have a few pieces of Old Britain Castles but in the rosy red color.

It was cold and snowy here last week but now just cool, damp and the usual January bland. But the sun is out now so that always is a lift here during winter.

I hope you have a super weekend! – g

Hoping You Have a Blessed Easter