Friday 26 April 2013

I am a Collector

My dad collects toby jugs. I don't know if you have toby jugs in non-UK countries (you lucky things) so if you don't this is what they are. A disembodied head with a handle. He has a toby jug in the shape of Mr Micawber which he places carefully on top of a corner cupboard, which looks even worse because then it looks as if Mr Micawber's body is in the cupboard and if you come upon it in the night it can be quite frightening. Anyway you can see that with this background I would not be keen, myself, to be starting collecting anything, especially given that our house is the size of the postage stamp and now has a pole in it, so does not need anything else. But, readers, I am weak. Sometimes even though you know something isn't good for you you cannot stop yourself, especially when you keep seeing it on ebay for under £5.
Sell me all your mud-coloured cups and send them to me in boxes! Hooray!
Yes. 60s and 70s ceramics. I just love them. I love the graphic patterns. I seem to have gone slightly down the brown route with these the beginning of my haul, but I promise you I shall be branching out into brighter colours. I am going to have a collection of teacups and mugs and put them on my shelf and then I can give people tea from quirky eclectic drinking vessels when they come round. Partner would call this 'twee and affected' so he will not be getting any tea from my eclectic vessels. Nor any biscuits.
Handpainted swirls. Do you get that in John Lewis? Probably
These teacups are Denby Arabesque. Denby Arabesque is my top favourite. I have an Arabesque jug too which sits behind the record player in a delightfully retro fashion. The vase at the back in the first picture is also Denby although I do not know what pattern or indeed if it has a name at all.
Luckily the sun shone just as I was taking the photograph otherwise we would all have been overwhelmed by the brownness of this post. But look! A bit of turquoise!
This teacup is Hornsea Pottery, Bronte, which was designed by John Clappison who was apparently some big name in questionable 70s ceramics. Doesn't this pattern just say the 70s to you, though? Don't you want to sit drinking coffee from it while digesting a nut roast, wearing a kaftan and discussing whether heterosexual sex is by definition oppressive to women? (actually, I have got a vintage kaftan, and you would be surprised how often I end up having discussions about sexual politics. Welcome to my home and life, stereotypical 70s pottery!)

Anyway there we are. Do you know what I am stalking now on ebay? Meakin. And I also have my eye on a bit of Elizabethan Chelsea. We have not even done my Fat Lava interests but I will inflict that upon you another time.

Things I like: cats, poles, Denby. Does that make me a rounded character? I think it must do. (Almost...)

4 comments:

Vivianne said...

My Mum had the tall coffee mugs to match those dark brown swirly ones of yours :)

Tanya said...

i have a set of similarly coloured and shaped tea cups. 70s sheek.

I collect soup tureens in the shape of vegetables. People think I'm mad, but after they see my collection they can do nothing but admit its amazing.

The Foggy Knitter said...

oooh old china, my parents are very into their china and own far more than anyone would ever need, which has meant that I have grown up taking surreptitious looks at the undersides of china, much to my friends' confusion and amused bewilderment.
I must confess to an almost unhealthy love of the 1950s Beryl pattern.

Rizzo76 said...

My parents have the full set of crockery matching that Hornsea Pottery cup! I just had a massive childhood flashback... Everything from a gravy boat to 70s-style dinner party platters. No idea where it all is now - probably in their attic somewhere... I have to admit it's quite attractive in a chunky, retro sort of way - it really is true that everything comes back into fashion eventually, isn't it?