Tea for One: The Inadvertant Revival of a Historic Tradition

These are strange times we live in. As I write this, I have just finished up a day of "working from home", which, as you might imagine, is quite a strange thing for a teacher. I have been so thankful for the support of my school's leadership who have shown great ingenuity and commitment as they have worked out the best way to handle the current school closures in our state.

In all this strangeness, one thing I have noticed is that all the upheaval at the societal level has caused me to have a greater appreciation for the little things in my daily life that I can still enjoy. Of course, one of them is the opportunity to enjoy a nice cup of tea in a cozy chair. Add a blanket, some relaxing music, my favorite fountain pen, and a journal, and life could hardly be any better! As it is, I don't strictly have to enjoy tea time alone, since I live with my parents, but when I'm writing, solitude is somewhat necessary.

My family has learned that when they see me with a tea tray, brewing a pot of tea and filling my tiny cream jug, they're not likely to see me for a couple hours at least. (Except if I come out to refill my teapot.) My mother has a Royal Albert "tea for one" set in the Old Country Roses pattern that I've been using. It's very lovely, and holds just the right amount of tea for a good hour of writing. I have enjoyed using it, but the cup is a bit shallow, and the rim is very thick, which I have found oddly distracting.

Besides, lovely as it is, it just isn't Spode.

And so, collector that I am, I placed on my Amazon wish list several months ago a "tea for one" set in Blue Italian. I couldn't quite justify spending enough to buy it new, but I figured I would set aside some money for it eventually.

March arrived, and my dad began to make cryptic comments about my birthday present. As the month wore on and my birthday drew nearer, he began to impatiently wonder when it would arrive, saying it had gotten stuck in customs or something because it was shipping from England. (This was a big tip-off to me that it would be Spode.)

Finally, it became apparent that it was not going to arrive, having gotten stuck in New Jersey, of all places, until the time had expired and it would be sent back. --I still don't understand exactly what happened with it, but as my birthday came and went amidst social distancing and stay-at-home orders, I was able to at least be happy that my dad had thought to get me such a thoughtful present.
(He had told me on my birthday what he had ordered, since he couldn't actually give it to me then.)

Today as I prepared my lunch, I caught sight of a delivery man coming up our front steps. He rang and took my name in lieu of having me sign for the package (another adjustment due to virus precautions). It was addressed to my dad, but he had no idea what the package could be. When he opened it we found, to our great surprise and delight, the very item he had ordered! Somehow the shipping company had been able to spring it loose from customs before the deadline, and it had at last arrived.

I opened the distinctive blue Spode box, and there before my eyes was the very "tea for one" set I had been wanting!

-I tried to get the link to the set on Amazon or Spode.com, but neither website is carrying them at present. --My theory is that my dad got the very last one!

So now, I can put some home-backed scones on a Blue Italian bread and butter plate, fill my little teapot and shut myself in my room to write to my heart's content!

All this has gotten me thinking about the tradition of taking tea in the afternoon, and I realized this week that I have inadvertently begun to make a habit of it, although I take my tea quite a bit earlier than the traditional 5:00 in the afternoon when I'm at home. There is just something relaxing and refreshing about taking a few quiet minutes to have a tasty, aromatic cup of tea and a bite to eat, shutting out for a few moments all the clamor and drama of the world outside. It helps me to clear my mind and reenergize myself for the next task on my list.

I have been doing quite a bit of research on tea and its traditions, particularly in English culture, as part of a story I've been chipping away at the past several months. I hope to have a post up soon with a brief history of the traditional British afternoon tea. I'll put a link here when it is finished.

But for now, just remember that the greatest crises help us to appreciate the existence of the "ordinary". When the chaos passes, may we find ourselves looking back with gratitude on this time of hardship, in which we are forced to take time to savor the small delights life still affords.

Tips on Recognizing Old Spode

The newest addition to my small collection of Spode is what is probably a rimmed soup bowl in the Blue Italian pattern. 

It has a bit of a ridge around the edge, where the bowl and rim meet, which makes me wonder if it might actually be some sort of covered dish, similar to the muffin dish pictured in an earlier post. It is a bit shallow for a muffin dish, however, so my assessment thus far leans heavily in favor of a soup bowl. I suppose another option could be something like a lidded butter dish as well, although I haven't explored that possibility yet.

I had found this "mystery" bowl on eBay a while back, and there were several things about the listing that caught my eye and caused me to decide to bid on it. 

The first thing I noticed was that, the listing was for a "bowl", no other categories given. Those who know Spode usually include the type of bowl in the title. (e.g. "soup bowl", "ascot cereal bowl", "Pasta bowl", "Serving bowl", etc.)

Another thing about the listing that tipped me off was the fact that the pattern was misnamed. This was especially significant since Blue Italian is by far the most common of the Spode patterns. In this case, instead of Blue Italian, the seller merely described the pattern as "castle". (There is, by the way, a Spode pattern called "Gothic Castle", but  it bears no similarity to Blue Italian.)

When I looked at the pictures, the bowl had all the hallmarks of a piece of Old Spode, which are as follows:

1.The Back Mark

According to my amateur research (meaning I looked it up in my Spode resource books), this plain, impressed marking was used prior to 1833, which is when the Copeland period began. 

The Spode period lasted from 1764 to 1833, after which time "Copeland" appeared on the back markings alongside or sometimes instead of the Spode name. Markings from the Spode period also tend to be impressed, rather than transfer printed. (Although I have read that both Spode and Copeland period marks could be found either impressed, stamped, or transfer printed.)
Another indication that this is from a period prior to 1833 is the fact that the country of origin is not included in the marking. In 1833, legislation was passed in the United States that required all marked goods imported into the country to be marked with their country of origin. Thus, Spode pieces from 1833 on typically include the word "England" as part of their back marking.

The number, I believe, is a workman's mark. It was common during the Spode period for workers to use a number, letter, or other marking to signify that they were the workman who made a particular piece. This ensured that they would be paid for their work, since pay was based on how many items they completed.

2. The Feel: Thickness and Weight:

Another indication that the piece is old is the feel of the material itself. New Spode feels heavy and thick, like stoneware, while old Spode tends to feel thinner, more fragile, almost. It is a little lighter, and the plain white of the underside of the piece tends to be a bit less brilliant than new Spode, and perhaps even a little yellowy.

3. The Color: Faded, Lighter, or Slightly Different Hue.

Now, when I received this bowl, I was at first unsure that it could actually be old, because the glaze and the pattern were in such good condition. I thought perhaps it could be a reproduction, but when I compared the coloring with the brand-new Blue Italian cake stand I had just bought, as well as a Blue Italian cereal bowl, also brand new, the difference was striking. These two pieces are the exact same pattern, but their coloring is noticeably distinct:

While one is more purple, the other is a dusky hue, with almost a hint of yellow. The latter is consistent with another piece in my tiny collection, a soup tureen which dates from the Spode period as well.  The feel and look of both pieces being consistent, I became convinced that the finish was merely well-preserved. Also, upon further inspection, it does have some very light scratches in the glazing, just on the surface, consistent with use and age.

~ ~ ~ 

I always like to imagine where these old pieces of Spode have come from and what kind of "life" they have had before arriving on my doorstep. I believe this piece was either part of someone's collection, or else it is part of a lidded serving dish which was not needed very often. This would account for the well-preserved nature of the piece, particularly if there had been a lid, and it had not survived long and the base had been set aside. 

Styling a Christmas Table with Blue Spode

Merry Christmas, readers!!

One benefit to hosting Christmas dinner is the fun of setting the table. Since my mother's china clashes with our red Christmas tablecloth, I have taken to using my Spode dishes instead.

Even though my blue Spode is everyday-ware, its beauty and good quality make it versatile and "dressy" enough even for such a special occasion as Christmas dinner.

We had only four at our Christmas feast this year, so we had taken all the leaves out of the table. This made passing the food easier, but resulted in a very crowded-looking table.

 Here are some ideas for styling your Spode for Christmas dinner:

Plates: I like the look of layering the classic blue Spode with the Spode Christmas Tree pattern. (I only had one Christmas Tree plate, though, which is why I didn't choose that for our table today.)

We had these beautiful napkins with a poinsettia on one corner, which looked lovely on top of the plates. If I had been able to take more time with them, I would have done a fancier napkin fold, but this one was quick and easy and showed off the prettiest part of the napkins.

My Blue Italian cereal bowls were perfect for holding green salad, and once I added some crystal stemware and a Christmas cracker at each place, the table really began to look festive!

Note: my family does not drink, but we have some lovely wine glasses that are family heirlooms, which quite elegantly hold our water or sparkling cider. After all, what's the use of owning pretty glassware if it just sits on a shelf?

Serving Dishes and Utensils:

We have a somewhat unusual spread for Christmas, and finding serving dishes for each item was a challenge I enjoyed greatly.

I used a Lucano dinner plate instead of my large platter for the ham, since there were only four of us around the table this year.

The rolls ended up in a Blue Italian Melba bowl, lined with a rather capacious napkin, to keep the rolls hot for as long as possible.

The salad was in a glass bowl, but my Spode Blue Room Salad Servers made dishing up the salad easy and elegant!

Some years ago, we began having homemade macaroni and cheese instead of potatoes with our ham, and this year my mother's delicious "maccy cheese" looked lovely in my Blue Italian handled serving tray. --I was glad of the excuse to bring this out, since it was a birthday present last year, and I had not had a chance to use it yet.

We also had roasted vegetables in my Geranium Pasta bowl (which held quite a bit more than we expected!) and green beans in my lovely Camilla nut bowl. Croutons sat in a Fitzhugh dessert bowl.

On a whole, the blue of the Spode dishes was stunning against the red tablecloth, and with the addition of our Advent candle wreath centerpiece and the poinsettia napkins, the overall effect was both festive and Christmassy! 

 

I hope your Christmas dinner was as delicious as mine! Merry Christmas, fellow Spodeians! 

P.S. Details (with pictures!) of our Christmas dessert table setting to come!  

 

Cereal Bowls-- an Unexpected Blessing

Today, I stopped by TJ Maxx in search of a new journal. As I neared the first of the clearance displays on the back aisle (my favorite aisle in the store...) I met with the most unexpected and wonderful surprise!

 

Not only was there an abundance of Blue Italian, there was also a rack full of the Ascot cereal bowls I had been searching for!

When I first began collecting Spode, I was disappointed that there were no bowls to go with the plates I so loved. I must admit that it was not till last winter that I actually looked online to see if there were any Spode bowls in existence. That was when I first typed in "Blue Spode" to the Amazon.com search bar and was delighted to find that there was ever so much more Spode than I had realized.

I had bought a set of wide-rimmed soup bowls, but I soon decided that they would not work as well for cereal. Some time mid-January, I found a lovely "Camilla" patterned Ascot- style cereal bowl. It was deeply discounted because it had been cracked and repaired. With the discount, I was happy to purchase it regardless of condition, because I had been wondering how much cereal one of these bowls would hold, since they looked a bit small in the pictures.

When I checked, I found that the cereal bowl held at least one serving of cereal (according to the serving size on the box), plus just the right amount of milk. I wanted to order more cereal bowls, but they were sold out on Amazon (as they had been for months), and a visit to the Spode website yielded the same results.

A couple months later, I found a set of two similar bowls in the "Blue Italian" pattern on eBay, but I had to pay shipping and, although I got a good deal, they were still pretty expensive. When I found the cache of Spode at the store tonight, my first thought was "I don't have to pay shipping!" Then I turned one over and found that they were $8 each, which is much less than they would be individually on Amazon! $16 each, and still a few dollars less than they would be if bought as a set of four.

Now, you might be wondering about the practicality of having a separate bowls just for cereal, but they also work well for ice cream (if you like a little more than the little dessert bowls hold), and a single-serve yogurt fits nicely in the small bowls. There's just something satisfying about having a dish that holds one serving of food, instead of feeling like your one serving is tiny because it's sitting in a too-large dish. --Think of it as beautiful portion control!

There were also several spice jars on clearance, including the Basil jar which I had been wanting, for only $6, as well as lots of dinner and salad plates. I exercised my self-control, however, and only purchased this much:

Bringing Out the Beauty of Boring Breakfasts

This week, two of my lovely nieces are visiting, and we decided to have a "fancy" breakfast. However, we had plans for mid-morning, so our breakfast time was somewhat rushed. We were determined to make our hum-drum eggs and cereal a memorable meal, so I rummaged in my "Spode bin" (as one niece calls it) for some pretty dishes.

The results were rather beautiful.

Not only did the food look amazing against the blue Spode, it was yummy (thanks to my younger niece who made us eggs!) and we had fun looking at the different patterns and discussing them.


A card table and an old lace curtain set outside were an easy way of bringing some elegance to our chocolate Chex cereal and scrambled eggs.

Blue Italian

I was at Home Goods this week when, to my surprise, I looked up and was greeted by the happy sight of a Spode Blue Italian dinner plate! Strangely enough, there were no other Spode pieces there, but it was encouraging because new Spode has been strangely absent from stores around me lately. Perhaps more will follow!

Running across the Blue Italian pattern reminded me that I had not actually done much research on it yet, so I pulled my copy of Antique Blue and White Spode by Sydney B. Williams and opened to the chapter called “The Italian Influence”. I found out that, while the other Spode patterns featuring scenes from Italy were all based upon engravings from Merigot’s Views of Rome and its Vicinity, the engraving upon which the Blue Italian pattern was based had not yet been discovered at the time of Williams’ writing in 1943 or, presumably, at the time my 1987 edition was printed.

I did some further research, and found a fascinating post on the ever-informative Spode History blog, which confirmed that the source of the Blue Italian pattern is yet to be identified for sure, but there have been some possible steps forward. According to fellow Spode blogger Pam Woolliscroft, an architectural survey showed that the scene could be a composite of sketches, perhaps taken from a painting. Woolliscroft also mentioned that the Spode Museum has purchased a pen and ink drawing which could be the original, and that there is also a painting which is remarkably similar. Which, if either, is the basis for the Blue Italian pattern is yet to be discovered. Read more here.   

According to the Spode website, the Blue Italian pattern has been in production since 1816. And I must admit that as much as I love the antique dishes, it is wonderful to be able to put the newer Spode pieces in the dishwasher after a big gathering such as Christmas or Thanksgiving when there has been a houseful to feed. The new dishes are also microwave safe, which is great for reheating leftovers after the guests have left. 

There are arguments for both the new and the antique, but if the new Spode dishes appeal to you, you might stop by Home Goods for a Blue Italian dinner plate.