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Porcelain Tea Sets

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Porcelain tea sets are usually intended to be used, although some are so fancy it is hard to imagine such a thing. The regular European tea set may consists of the tea pot, sugar, creamer and four or six cups and saucers. Smaller sets may include just the teapot and a couple of mugs. Larger sets may include an additional hot water pot for the second round of tea, a waste jar for the dregs from each cup before a second cup is poured into it, and as many as a dozen cups and saucers.

Tea set makers like Franz include a specific spoon for each tea cup as well These fantasies of flowers, butterflies or ocean creatures are not really meant to be used, but a large tea set can be accumulated with patience and plenty of money.

Oriental tea sets usually consist of the tea pot and an odd number of tea cups, usually five. If the tea pot is smaller, there may only be three, and the pot only golds three cups of tea. Individual tea pots and single cup sets are also available.

A tea for one tea set is usually a stack of saucer, cup and pot, where the pot holds only two cups of tea. These sets can be quite imaginative in their design, with the cup and tea pot begin formed into animals or ornamental forms.

Children’s tea sets usually have the tea pot, sugar, creamer and six or eight cups and saucers, allowing for the inclusion of many stuffed animals and dolls in the youngster’s party. These sets used to be made from china, then metal and are now mostly made from plastic, but it is still possible to collect the older sets made from porcelain with some effort and working with an antique dealer or two.

Since many porcelain tea sets can be acquired one cup and saucer at a time, you can often make up a set to suit your own preferences, rather than accepting the number of cups or sugar bowls that the accepted set contains. Perhaps you have two forms of sugar you want to offer your guests, then two sugar bowls would make sense. You might also want a bowl for slices of lemon, as well as the creamer. And it is always a good thing to have two tea pots so there is plenty of tea to go around.

Find your own pattern and set up your tea set as you see fit.

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Porcelain Dolls

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Porcelain dolls include both bisque and china dolls. The bisque dolls are not glazed and so have a more realistic skin tone. The china dolls are glazed, making them shiny and more durable. Porcelain dolls include the whole figure, with painted hair and stiff limbs, to dolls with fully articulated limbs that bend at shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and neck.

Older dolls, frequently made in Germany or other European countries, included the head, arms and legs, and the doll maker supplied the torso. These dolls may have leather or cloth “bodies” stuffed with any number of fillings. The body in these cases is rather rectangular, with the and legs attached at the edges of the body. Older bisque dolls often craze as well, having hairline cracks in the surface of the porcelain., but crazing alone is not a guarantee of age.

Half dolls are formed in china or bisque and include the head, arms and upper half of the torso. Holes are provided so the doll maker can add the bottom half of the doll in his or her choice of costume and method of standing for these dolls. Also available from times past are porcelain dolls with composite bodies. These early plastic bodied dolls with only porcelain heads are often jointed and can be placed in both standing and sitting poses.

Porcelain dolls were very popular children’s toys in the Victorian era, from the 1860s to 1900. Some dolls have survived from that time, but new dolls are made every year as well. For antiques dolls, the value of a porcelain doll depends on its age, condition and the presence of the original costume. The manufacturer is also important, and dolls without a makers mark may be valued lower than those with such marks.

Modern porcelain dolls are generally made as collector’s items, and their value is best determined by looking for dolls made by the same maker on the secondary market, like eBay, to see how much they sell for there. There are also people making replicas of the antique dolls, so be sure to understand what you are buying before you put any serious money into a particular doll.

Buying antique and modern porcelain dolls requires some knowledge, but there are books, magazines and clubs to help the neophyte determine what he or she wants to collect. When in doubt, talk to a member of the National Antique Doll Dealers Association (NADDA) to get a feel for the real value of the doll in question. Appraisals are generally very reasonable and may save you a lot of money until you are able to judge the value of a doll for yourself.

The images on this post are from Stock Xchnge.

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Porcelain on Stamps

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One area where one can always spend some time, no matter what one collects, is on the stamps that depict one’s chosen collectible. This is true for porcelain as well as any other field of collecting. There may not be any US stamps with porcelain on them, but there are certainly stamps from other parts of the world which depict china and porcelain.

Chinese and Japanese stamps are bound to have many examples of porcelain over the years. Finding these stamps would only take a stroll though the Scott’s catalogs to identify them. While some of the stamps may be relatively easy to find, it might take a few years to find the more expensive stamps of a set or some of the earliest sets with porcelain on them. Paging through the paper catalog or the electronic one, look at the descriptions as well as the pictures of the stamps. Make a list of the appropriate Scott’s numbers, and you are set to start looking for the stamps themselves.

Europe must also be considered when looking for stamps with porcelain depicted on them, as porcelain and china have been local industries in Germany and other countries for several hundred years. Stamp sets celebrating these manufacturers should be found in both Eastern and Western Europe, regardless of where you set those boundaries. Here again, recording the Scott’s numbers of the stamp sets as you browse through the catalogs will allow you to determine which ones you want to collect and approximately how much the stamps will cost. Then you can get with several stamp dealers and work on building your collection of porcelain stamps.

Nearly every hobby shows up on stamps internationally at some point or other, so look for the stamps that illustrate your special interests and start a topical stamp collection. Easy to store and arrange, stamps can provide hours of fun as you search for and purchase porcelain stamps.

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Christmas China

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There are many types of holiday china that can be used to augment the various end-of-the year celebrations you might hold. These include whole china sets, various assorted mugs, and kitchen decorations like cookie jars and canisters.

One form of Christmas ephemera is the many teapots and mugs available to decorate and use for the holiday season. Although you sometimes have to buy matching mugs, in sets of four usually, most often these holiday extras come as individual purchases. There are also holiday teapots either to match or complement the seasonal mugs, So you can accumulate a wide assortment of mugs to use year after year. Serving wassail or spiced cider drinks to holiday visitors or at parties you host can add a very festive touch to these occasions.

There are many Christmas china patterns, that can be purchased by the place setting or by the complete set, depending on how much you want to spend and whether you want all the place settings to be the same. Traditionally, the table is set with every place the same, but imagine a table where each place is set with different china and drink ware. Some places with predominantly green or red china, or others with gold and silver patterns. This would be a fun table to set, and to collect the components as you find them. It may take some time to find enough for everyone, but as you add settings, no doubt some of the people at your table will develop a preference for a particular setting and it will become “their” place.

For decorating the kitchen for the season’s festivities, there are special ceramic cookie jars, canisters, salt and pepper shakers, spoon rests and other items. These can be fancy like the products of Fitz & Floyd or as simple as the offerings at the local dollar store or warehouse store. These special holiday decorations can be unpacked and enjoyed for many years, and even become family heirlooms to be passed on to the next generation. Look for kitchen ornamental wares as you shop the before and after Christmas sales and pick up a few for next year.

We celebrate the end of the year in many fashions, and there is holiday china for each of the major celebrations. Offer visitors the special food and drink of your holiday traditions in or on china specially made for the season. Happy Holidays!

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Annual Porcelain Ornaments for 2011

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Many china and porcelain manufacturers offer Christmas ornaments for sale, and many of these are dated with the year they are issued. Often these dated ornaments are part of series, with one offered every year, allowing the purchaser to spend a reasonable amount of money in any given year, but to accumulate a nice collection of porcelain ornaments over time.

Another focus of dated ornaments are the commemoration of significant events in the ornaments owners’ lives. Weddings, first homes and new babies are popular events for which special ornaments are made. Usually purchased as gifts, they can be the beginning of ornament collections that the recipient then begins adding to each year.

Here are some of the porcelain ornaments available for 2011.

Wedgwood

Wedgwood is offering a Wedgwood blue and white snowflake, a house ornament, Baby’s First Christmas inn the form of a small carousel, available in pink or blue, a blue jasper ornament and a couple’s first Christmas in the form of a wedding cake. Without a year identified on the ornament: an iconic teapot, a cup and saucer ornament, a white luster Snowflake ornament, ball shaped ornaments with a Sleigh Ride, the Nativity, Santa in Flight, and Skating Pond, a white Snowflake ball ornament, and flat cameo ornaments with Santa (red background), Tree (dark green background), Snowman (dark gray background) and Madonna and Child (light blue background).

Lladro

Lladro has a dated bell and a ball ornament for 2011.

Goeble

Goeble, maker of the Hummels, has a Hummel bell, a Hummel figurine ornament as well as an angel bell and a regular bell ornament for 2011.

Precious Moments

Precious Moments has a Santa ornament, a penguin ornament, Baby’s First Christmas with either girl or boy, an angel, a ball and/or figurine ornament with the same figure, and a couple’s first Christmas ornament specifically for 2011.

Danbury Mint

Danbury Mint has an interesting Celtic Heart ornament for 2011, and a German ornament in the form of a building decorated in blue on white with red and green accents.

Spode

Spode has a couple’s first Christmas ornament, a Baby’s First Christmas, and a new home ornament. Their regular in-a-series ornaments are a bell, a reindeer and a spoon ornament.

Belleek

Belleek has a Baby’s First Christmas in the form of a Teddy Bear, and a couple’s first Christmas ornament.

Royal Dalton

Royal Dalton has used their Royal Albert Old Country Roses on their 2011 bauble ornament. There is also an Old Country Roses Figural of a train engine.

Royal Copenhagen

Royal Copenhagen’s additions for the 2011 dated ornaments consist of a cat figure, and a drop ornament decorated in their signature blue on blue style.

Bing & Grondahl

B&G also have a drop ornament, decorated in blue on blue as well.

Lenox

Lenox is one of the major players, if not the major player, in the dated porcelain ornament world. They have a number of continuing ornament series as well as commemorative ornaments.

The commemorative ornaments include: Baby’s First Christmas in the form of a flat baby buggy, a 3-D rattle ornament, a 3-D Winnie the Pooh ornament and a flat rocking horse ornament. For the bride & groom, there is a bride’s cake ornament, a flat wedding bells ornament, and a first home ornament in the shape of a house.

In their continuing series of ornaments, there are also flat and 3-D ornaments. In the 3-D selection, there are the spire ornament, the pierced ornament, a Christmas tree, a bell, a Jewels bell, a ball ornament, an angel, two Santa Claus figures, Tinkerbell, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, a nutcracker, and, finally, a moose.

The flat ornaments include a snowflake, a gingerbread man, a snowman, a gift package, and a ribbon-form wreath. Lenox easily takes the prize as the top dated Christmas ornament manufacturer.

Dated ornaments can make wonderful Christmas presents for those who already have plenty of sweaters and ties. They are special not only in the year they are given, but in the years following, as they are unwrapped and put out each holiday season. If you are looking for a gift for someone who has everything, consider a dated Christmas ornament.

See some of these 2011 ornaments.

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Stoneware

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Stoneware is defined by the fact that the clay body itself vitrifies enough for the unglazed vessel to be water-tight and very durable. These wares are often glazed for aesthetic reasons, but the simplest are formed and fired just once and are useful at that point. Crocks for preserving foods and jugs for storing drinks, as well as a plethora of other useful items, are formed from these kinds of clays, which can be found in many parts of the world. All pottery that self-glazes is considered stoneware, the opposite of which is earthenware, which must be fired twice, the second using a high-fire glaze, to be water-tight.

Originally thrown on the wheel, stoneware can also be hand formed, press molded, drape molded and slip cast. Because of the uninspiring looks of most of these clays when fired, exterior decoration and or the use of glazes was common to make the vessels more eye-catching or to identify the contents of the container.

Industry Standard Categories for Stoneware

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoneware)
Traditional stoneware – a dense and inexpensive body. It is opaque, can be of any colour and breaks with a conchoidal or stony fracture. Traditionally made of fine-grained secondary, plastic clays which can used to shape very large pieces.
Fine stoneware – made from more carefully selected, prepared and blended raw materials. It is used to produce tableware and art ware.
Chemical stoneware – used in the chemical industry, and elsewhere when resistance to chemical attack is needed. Purer raw materials are used than for other stoneware bodies.
Thermal shock resistant stoneware – has additions of certain materials to enhance the thermal shock resistance of the fired body.
Electrical stoneware – historically has been used for electrical insulators, although has been replaced by electrical porcelain.
(end of Wikipedia quote)

Finishing Techniques

Albany slip, a clay suspended in water: the formed items is dipped into the slip and fired. The result is a smooth, opaque brown surface. Sometimes only used on the inside of the piece while the outside was finished using another technique.
salt glaze: salt is added to the kiln at a high temperature. The sodium reacts with the clay body to form a glassy finish.
alkaline glaze: a drippy olive of brown finish, smooth and uniform, used in the southeast US.
Bristol glaze: a glaze which gives the vessel a white opaque finish, it often used as the base for spongeware, or combined with Albany slip to produce brown and white ware.

Decorating Techniques

sponging: using a contrasting glaze lights applied using natural sponges to get a spotty/mottled effect and a orange peel texture.
incising: lines or other figures are scratched into the vessel once it is formed and air dried. Sometimes having minerals rubbed into the lines to make them stand out more vividly.
impression: a coggle wheel is used to impress lines of squiggles or other shapes around the vessel
application: hand-formed or press molded decorations are applied to the vessel while still damp using slip. These can be anything from a mask or face to Classical scenes or wreaths of ivy leaves or grapes.
stencil: a stencil is used to make areas open for the design. A colored glaze is sponged over the openings in the stencil. Several stencil may be used with different colors to provide more complicated designs. Also used for applying the maker’s names, volume indicators (qt. or pt. for example) or intended contents.
slip: slip of a contrasting color, or even the same color, is spotted or trailed on the outside surface, giving it visual interest.
decals and copper prints: on fine stoneware, simple or complicated designs can be applied to the stoneware using decals or copper transfer prints. Dinnerware that is not hand-painted is usually decorated in this way.

Items made from Stoneware

storage for food and drink: jugs, pots, jars, crock, water coolers, bottles, flasks, canteens.
vessels for serving or consuming food and drink: mugs, pitchers, punch bowls, sugar bowls, salts, bowls, goblets, glasses.
cooking utensils: bean pots, churns, mortars.
household containers: face jugs, inkwells, spittoons, chamber pots, hot water bottles. flower pots, urns, banks, tobacco humidors.
Non-containers: doorstops, figurines, miniatures, toys, whistles.

Stoneware covers a lot of ground, and you may already own more of it than you think. Even leaving out dinnerware, don’t you have a crock, or bean pot somewhere? Perhaps as a family heirloom? And, given the list above, isn’t there something on the list that piques your interest? For me, I would like to see stoneware figurines and miniatures, and if I see very many, I bet I own a few soon thereafter.

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