Admittedly, it's been a hard week at school. Believe it or not, kids get just as excited for Valentine's Day as they do for Christmas, maybe even more. Add to that, we have a three-day weekend coming up. It's been benchmark testing and other testing, and parent conferences are coming up next week. Phew.
We're all ready for the long weekend. To get ready and to reduce some stress, I engaged in some retail therapy, Prata style. We've been pinned in for so long due to excessive rain, bad weather and dense fog (even snow) that on Thursday being a slightly sunny day, I wanted to drive up to The Special Store as a nice little jaunt and bust out a bit. They were having a sale. Yay.
I needed to swap out my art over the kitchen table. I also am always looking for kitchen items. I'm always seeing what I can see. There's a lot to see. The ladies had bought another estate and were busy unpacking it all week. I was eager to check it out.
Of interest was the sign "Free art with purchase" from the pile of art placed by the register. Also of interest was the announcement "Free cookbook with purchase".
I saw a gorgeous teacup (not that I need any more) by Royal Doulton. This is a well known English china and figurine company. The mark said the patter was Pillar Rose and it was translucent china. Pillar Rose is described as Pink Roses, Gray Leaves On White, Coupe, Pattern Number: TC1011, sold between 1961 - 1974. It's very late mid-century... so... Post Modern Contemporary? Here is a good article spelling out the difference between mid-century modern and postmodern contemporary.
Anyway, I was intrigued by the translucent part of the pottery mark. Bone china I know. Translucent China I don't know. Royal Doulton is an esteemed pedigree, so it was worth taking a shot and buying the teacup.
It turns out that translucent china was introduced by Royal Doulton in 1960, called English Translucent China (ETC), which was known as Royal Doulton Fine China after 1974. ETC offered the excellent translucent quality of bone china, without the expense of using the calcined bone in the manufacturing process and fired in a higher temperature. In 1966 Royal Doulton became the first china manufacturer to receive the Queen's Award for Technical Achievement.
The New Scientist magazine in December 1959 remarked on the then extremely new technique Royal Doulton had perfected. If you're interested as to why this was such a huge advance in tableware, read the next few paragraphs. LOL, otherwise scroll down to skip.
English tableware is based on two traditional ceramic materials, both developed in the eighteenth century: earthenware with its porous and opaque body, and bone china, which has an entirely vitreous and translucent body. Bone china acquires its excellent qualities during the firing, when a fluxing agent binds animal bone to certain other ingredients. The bone, which is expensive, constitutes 50 per cent of the mixture. So it is not surprising that earlier experimenters hoped to imitate china by modifying the earthenware recipe.No wonder Royal Doulton became the first china manufacturer to receive the Queen's Award for Technical Achievement! Good on them. And now one of their technically perfect, affordable, and gorgeous items now graces this housewife's kitchen!
English Translucent China, however, is completely vitreous. It is made from (among other things) a blend of feldspars, china clays individually picked for special chemical or physical properties, and silica. These are cunningly compounded to achieve a happy balance between such factors as whiteness, fired strength and plasticity. Plasticity, or the case with which the clay can be worked, is in fact reported to be so good that it has been possible to speed up the moulding and shaping stages of the manufacturing process.
No doubt the search for the correct formula was the Doulton team's biggest problem. But they had also to experiment with the preparation of the raw materials, establish firing regimes and devise new methods of glazing. Then special refractory supports had to be designed.
Whereas earthenware stands up to the rigours of the kiln without much distortion, the new variety, like bone china, tends to become mobile at the higher firing temperature of about 1,300° C. Originally each piece was laid in a bed of calcined flint. This turned out to be a cause of silicosis, and some years ago was superseded by calcined alumina beds which, at Doulton's, have recently given way to solid refractory supports like disks that help to preserve the shape of a piece when it contracts during the first (biscuit) firing.
In short, the housewife will now be able to acquire a dinner or tea service virtually as strong as bone china and possessing many other of its attributes, yet costing little more than the best earthenware. To Doulton's it is a source of pride that this bid for the "intermediate” market both at home and abroad has evolved from the English pottery tradition rather than oriental or Continental methods.
I bought a gift for someone, that was my main purchase, and also the teacup. And this little guy, it's SO cute! A small owl whisk in stainless steel.
I obtained the following pieces of art, one I bought and one that came free with a purchase. This is "Still Life with Pumpkin" But I like to call it Still Life with Book. It's by Henk Bos. It turns out he is a pretty interesting guy. Born in 1901 and died in 1979, from ArtNet we learn,
Henk Bos was a Dutch still-life painter. Staunchly devoted to the tradition and style of the Dutch Old Masters, he exclusively painted still lifes throughout his career. Bos realistically rendered fruit, vessels, and traditional accouterments set on wooden tables against a foreshortened stucco wall. He would also become a a member of several Dutch artist collectives, such as the Vereeniging Sint Lucas and the Gooische Painters Society. Born in 1901 in Huizen in the north of Holland, Bos died in Huizen, Holland on November 18, 1979.
Bos produces a bulk of his works in the 1950s and 60s. Mid-Century again, seems I gravitate to that design aesthetic whatever I do! Here is my Bos closer up-
I bought one of the cookbooks and the other one as mentioned came free with a purchase. My mother collected these. She enjoyed cooking and experimenting with new recipes all the time. I guess "nostalgia" is bringing all this Mid-Century on.
In looking up the cookbooks I found this-
Why This Vintage Cookbook Series Was a Half-Century Before Its Time
Published in the late ’60s, Time-Life’s Foods of the World cookbook series was a good 50 years before its time. Truly from the golden age of publishing, these books were intended to educate and entertain. Today, the authentically ethnic and American regional cookbooks have a certain charm as the “exotic” ingredients introduced are readily available in supermarkets today—things like chorizo, tahini, hoisin sauce, fresh bay leaves and jasmine rice.
If you like exploring the world and its history through food, or if you’re looking to discover great food writing from such icons as M.F.K. Fisher and Waverley Root, you should add some of these books to your library.The series included hard cover almost-coffee table sized cook books and the smaller spiral bound ones (like mine) were addendum. The hardcovers apparently have luscious photos.
I also bought this piece of art by a "B Riasni", of whom I can find little about.
The back of the print says "Floral" Riasni. Contemporary Italian. Italian born, Riasni, with the skilled brush strokes of a master, creates a charming floral study of red and yellow roses. These sturdy cardboard prints are both signed. D. A. C. N.Y. No. 103 & No. 119 Published for Creative Manor Galleries on left lower corners and LITHO IN USA is in the right lower corners. The few places that sell these online mention they are vintage 50s or 60s. So...mid-century again.
It might be stretching it just a touch to compare Mr or Mrs Riasni to a master, but the print is charming.
I enjoy the opportunity to browse and see pretty things, small and large (the furniture at this store is amazing). I like bringing home this and that, and apparently the gift I'd bought was a hit. It's not far away and the drive to it is lovely. It's all good.
Well, thanks for sticking with me on my meanderings as I studied up on the items I got at the vintage store I like to go to. I like studying about them after I get home as much as I enjoy browsing and buying. Till next time, I leave you with this. We'd had a bunch of storms all week. The air was changing from the humid sticky stuff being driven out by a fresh clear and cold air mass. The clouds were scudding and moving quickly as the day waned. As I pumped gas at a gas station on a high plateau I watched the clouds go by. The hues of gray captured me. No filter-
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