Going potty

You'll doubtless remember me telling you (as if you didn't already know) that pretty much every English household from the 1940s to the 1960s had at least a couple of pieces of crockery to this design -- Cornishware:

That was, of course, a Dreadnought jug, and you can buy modern versions of it today (including in a rather startling red).

The other crockery design that was near universal in England was this, Willow Pattern:

I was reminded of it when I accidentally found myself wandering through the ceramics galleries of London's Victoria & Albert Museum...

There, case after case of blue and white china, both originals and chinoiserie Delftware, bear testimony to the popularity of these sorts of ceramics:

Imagine my surprise and delight when I then stumbled across a modern interpretation of Willow Pattern -- it grabbed my eye from the other side of the gallery and I had to hustle straight over to this case (click to enlarge):

Charming and witty... so, of course, I sought out the label:

And that's exactly what Dawson and Wedgwood have done:

The delicate rim patterns now look like giant car tyre treads, while the individual elements of the story are isolated and emphasised:

Sometimes this makes for particularly serene scenes:

The overall effect, though, is quite delightful:

This, of course, sent me scuttling off to the Wedgwood website where, of course, there is no mention of this crockery to be found. Not even in the archive of disused patterns. Which was, on the one hand, annoying, because I was overwhelmed with a possessive lust -- I wanted some plates like that. But, on the other, it was probably just as well since I patently don't need any more crockery.

While I was on their website, though, I stumbled across some black jasper Queensware -- including this extraordinarily beautiful coffee pot:

So simple and almost delicate, yet so wonderfully proportioned and elegant.

Just like the tea pot, in fact, even if that has a somewhat fancier handle and a lid whose complex curvature suggests it's more of a luxury item than an everyday tea pot:

And then, lastly, there was this wonderful water jug. Utterly adorable:

With apologies for the crap quality of those last images, which were lifted from tiny photos on the Wedgwood website. It's almost as if they don't want to sell this stuff. Then again, didn't they go bust a year or so back?

PS: You should probably treat this entire post as conclusive evidence that I am turning into a stereotypical middle aged homosexual, obsessed with beautiful things and antiques. Bugger it: I thought I was so much more radical than that.

PPS: Click here for a trailer for what appears to be a cute animation, telling the Willow Pattern story.