Friday 15 January 2010

Blue and Green.........................by Gay S




Today in honor of Blue Monday hosted by the ever gracious Smiling Sally I’m showing you some of the Blue items from my collection…..






The first is the Cockerel barber bowl which I found in a village not far from Quimper: Rosporden.
The brocante there was a regular stop for us and over the years we have found some good pieces. We used to drive off the ferry, breakfast in St Malo then head for Rosporden for lunch.
Refreshed we’d make our way to the brocante just in time for the owner to open. Perfect!
This piece is marked HB Quimper and shows every sign of being genuine, but this form is much reproduced, if you buy one of these be careful - one tell tale sign of a reproduction is a kind of crackle in the glaze, but when you examine it carefully the lines are quite even and grey….beware…


The next piece is also a bird, but it couldn’t be more different –it’s rather a comical duck – this cute little plate was probably part of a child’s tea set. I found this piece in Concorde, MA. and its humour just appealed to me.

The little dishes below were sold to me as salts, but if they are indeed salts they are very shallow, I just like their shabby chic look.




The jug was a buy from a local fair in a village called Benson. (Benson has an RAF base and a weather station, when you hear that temperatures in the UK have plummeted, the data has often been gathered at Benson… recently temperatures there dropped to minus 18 which for the UK was remarkable.)
I’m not sure if the jug was ever intended to be quite so blue, perhaps it had something to do with the firing which would have been in a kiln fired by wood, rather than today’s far more controllable electricity.

So what about Green?
One of the great things about purchasing these items or similar antiques, is that they are pre-owned; they don’t have to be manufactured and shipped thousands of miles, no more of the earth’s resources are used, no further material extracted…no carbon foot print!
With care these items will last hundreds of years. The cockerel and the duck have probably had a couple of owners before me, the little plates and jug even more, (they are already ‘old age pensioners’ or ‘seniors’) hopefully they’ll go on to have owners after me……we are being ‘Green’; we are recycling treasures and I for one couldn’t be happier about it !

17 comments:

  1. I totally agree with you Gay. I love recycling. Shopping at it's best as far as I'm concerned.
    Happy Blue Monday.
    Love Claudie
    oxoxo

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  2. Love that Barber Dish! And the two salt dishes are very sweet!

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  3. Hi Gay! Oh, what gorgeous blues on gorgeous dishes! Although my favorite is the first bowl with the most elegant rooster on it!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  4. Gay, I am with you on recycling and so happy when others decide they don't 'need' their treasures. Your pieces are lovely. As much as I like a lot of color, there is something so clean about blue and white. It's always interesting to know where you found them too.

    Have a great Monday!

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  5. It's fun being green! Thanks, Gay for putting a new spin on collecting blues. Happy Blue Monday.

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  6. I have been a big fan of helping the earth by yard saling and buying what already is. I can't agree with you more, and your "prizes" are just gorgeous..you have very good taste.
    Susan

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  7. wow, I love your collection, what beautiful pieces you have found~ Hugs,Cindy

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  8. Your "finds" are not only green, they are also gorgeous. I hope you are having a wonderful Blue Monday.

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  9. Hi Gay, such happy and pretty blues!!

    Happy Blue Monday

    Barb

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  10. That was a fun walk you took me on. Thank you for sharing. Have a week filled with love, Cherie

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  11. Beautiful collection girl...thanks for sharing this...Happy Blue Monday to you...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

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  12. Lovely blue pieces! I have to admit that I really love the little duck!

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  13. The one with rooster design is beautiful!

    Party Favors for blue monday!

    PS.. I just became your follower.

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  14. Gay, love seeing these little treasures. Love the thought of our collecting being "green". Thanks for sharing these. ~ Sarah

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  15. Such sweet pieces, Gay, and the duck is a charmer!
    I have a covered cheese dish which has this "perhaps blue by accident" coloration. They are charming, no matter what. When one thinks about it, all antiques are "recycled"..and much of our house is filled with antiques, thrift shop and garage sale finds! Fun indeed!

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  16. Oh! How much I love that little duck in the top hat! Pretty pieces. laurie

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