The Flickr Oldteacup Image Generatr

My friend BKHagar *Kim* bought a “mystery tub” of china from an auction, all wrapped in old newspaper. She sent me a photo of the box as she had received it from the auction, and I pointed out that she had a Royal Albert teacup from the 1930s amongst them. You can see her beautiful 1932 Royal Albert "Petit-Point" teacup here: www.flickr.com/photos/bkhagar_gallery/54482268384/in/phot... or in the first comment below. She asked me how on earth could I know that just from seeing half a cup and a handle sticking out of some newspaper. My answer to her was that I had a teacup in a different pattern with the exact same cup shape and handle in my decorative china collection, and this is it.

This is a Royal Albert trio decorated with the pattern "April Showers" featuring a transfer that was then over-painted by hand. "April Showers" was produced from the 1920s through to the 1950s in a range of colours (I also have a blue variation), featuring a different style of teacup for each decade. This cup shape has the delightful name of "Hampton" and was used during the 1930s. The trio features a square cake plate, implying that this set was made in the early part of the 1930s.

Another friend of mine’s Aunt said that “drinking tea from a thick pottery mug was as good as receiving a slap in the face”. Whilst I don’t necessarily feel quite so strongly about drinking tea from an alternative, I do believe that there is nothing nicer than drinking tea from a fine porcelain cup. I think it is elegant, and keeps alive the fine tradition of taking elevenses or afternoon tea in a gracious fashion. In a world of utility, there is a certain charm in taking tea from a beautifully designed cup, painted with beautiful flowers.

In 1896, Thomas Clark Wild bought a pottery in Longton, Stoke on Trent, England, called Albert Works, which had been named the year before in honor of the birth of Prince Albert, who became King George VI in 1936. Using the brand name Albert Crown China, Thomas Wild and Co. produced commemorative bone-china pieces for Queen Victoria's 1897 Diamond Jubilee, and by 1904 had earned a Royal Warrant. From the beginning, Royal Albert's bone china dinnerware was popular, especially its original floral patterns made in rich shades of red, green, and blue. Known for incredibly fine, white, and pure bone china, Royal Albert was given to the sentimental and florid excesses of Victorian era England, making pattern after pattern inspired by English gardens and woodlands. With designs like Serena, Old English Roses, and Masquerade and motifs inspired by Japanese Imari, the company appealed to a wide range of tastes, from the simplest to the most aristocratic. In 1910, the company created its first overseas agency in New Zealand. Soon it had offices in Australia, Canada, and the United States. Willing to experiment with the latest in industrial technologies, the company was an early adopter of kilns fuelled by gas and electricity. Starting in 1927, Royal Albert china used a wide variety of more stylized backstamps, some with the crown, some without, and others stylized with script and Art Deco lettering. Some of these marks even had roses or other parts of the pattern in them. Patterns from the years between the wars include American Beauty, Maytime, Indian Tree, Dolly Varden, and Lady-Gay. The '40s saw patterns like Fragrance, Teddy's Playtime, Violets for Love, Princess Anne, Sunflower, White Dogwood, Mikado, Minuet, Cotswold, and the popular Lady Carlyle. Royal Albert incorporated as a limited company in 1933, and in the 1960s it was acquired by Pearson Group, joining that company's Allied English Potteries. By 1970, the porcelain maker was completely disassociated with its T.C. Wild & Sons origins and renamed Royal Albert Ltd. Pearson Group also acquired Royal Doulton in 1972, putting Royal Crown Derby, Royal Albert, Paragon, and the Lawleys chain under the Royal Doulton umbrella, which at this point included Minton, John Beswick, and Webb Corbett. In 1993, Royal Doulton Group was ejected from Pearson Group, for making less money than its other properties. In 2002, Royal Doulton moved the production of Royal Albert china from England to Indonesia. A few years later, Waterford Wedgwood absorbed Royal Doulton Group and all its holdings, which currently makes three brands, Royal Doulton, Minton, and Royal Albert, including the Old Country Roses pattern, which is Royal Albert’s most popular design.

It’s funny how the world works sometimes. My partner has been friends with a chap for many years who is a confirmed old bachelor from a good family: but with no children, he is the last of this distinguished family line. With only a distant cousin and even more distant godson for family, my partner’s friend asked my partner to be the executer of his will. When he visited us to ask this of my partner, our friend and I chatted as we usually do about antiques and art, in particular Art Deco, which is a shared love of ours. I showed him some rather lovely Shelley Art Deco trios I had acquired recently. He then said that this was the perfect segway to something he wanted to ask me. He wanted to know whether I would be interested in having his parents’ Shelley Art Deco tea set (a wedding gift when they married in 1933) as part of the terms of his will. He wanted it to go to a person who would love it and cherish it. I was so flattered to be asked. Thus, when my partner and I visited him a week later at his house, our friend had washed and put out the set for me to look over to confirm whether I wanted it. It was a gorgeous Deco design of hand painted stripes in white, grey and that wonderful bright green we associate with the Art Deco era. Consisting of six cups, saucers and cake plates, a milk jug, sugar bowl and larger cake plate, the set was in perfect condition, gleaming and bright as the day it was gifted originally. I said I would love it! Then he told me that I may a well enjoy my inheritance now, and he gave me the set to bring home that very evening!

This is a teacup and saucer from that set. The pieces are made of the finest and most delicate bone china: so fine you can clearly see the shadow of your hand behind it when you hold it to the light. Shelley were famous for the delicacy of their porcelain, and it is why pieces are so prized by collectors, because they are so easily broken, even if one is gentle with them. The distinctive shape of the cup with its circular handle is registered as shape number 781613 which is classified as a Regency shape which applied to cups, coffee pots and milk jugs and was registered in 1933 – the year our friend’s parents were married. Each piece from the set has a hand painted “W 1233” on the bottom in red paint, which identifies the pattern number and possibly the pattern designer, but to date I can find nothing about it, and I have never seen a pattern quite like this. Thus, the set is keeping some of its origins a secret. Maybe one day I will find out more. Each piece has been entirely hand painted, which is most unusual even for a brand like Shelley, and even though it is nearing its centenary year, this cup and saucer look contemporary enough to slip into a fashionable modern interior of today.

The theme for "Looking Close on Friday" for the 19th of July is "cup & saucer", and whilst I have many lovely cups and saucers in my collections of china, I felt that these rater special pieces deserved a showing for this week’s theme. I hope you like my choice for the theme this week, and that it makes you smile.

ROSIE: "Look Peter, mijn prins! I found something exciting. Today Scout asked me to help him find some cups in Daddy's china cabinet - I'm not sure why. Anyway, he took two away with him, but I kept exploring, and look! I found these beautiful fine blue porcelain cups with the letter K painted on them by hand in gold. Do you know what I think, mijn prins? I think they are cups for a king and queen. I know that I am your prinses and you are mijn prins, but do you think today we could be king and queen? Please come and take tea with me mijn prins! I am sending you lots of soft snuffly kisses!" *Blushes red beneath pink woollen fur.* "You make my stomach flip like I have swallowed butterflies. It's a nice feeling to love you, mijn prins! Heel veel berenkusjes voor mijn prins Peter!"

My bears Paddy and Scout have made very good friends with two bears in Holland called Peter and Oleg (www.flickr.com/photos/40262251@N03/galleries/721577154558...) and their Mummy (www.flickr.com/photos/66094586@N06/) . Peter and Scout are very similar and have become best friends. Peter loves Rosie and Rosie loves Peter, so they have become prince and princess to one another.

The theme for "Smile on Saturday" on the 11th of March is "pink and blue", in which the photo should only feature pink and blue (the Flickr colours). I immediately thought of my Rosie bear who is knitted and as you can see, bright pink. Just by luck, a friend of mine who knows that I collect tea cups for another friends of mine whose name begins with the letter K, found these antique fine porcelain tea cups with the letter K painted on them by hand in gilt paint in a charity shop the week before the theme was announced. My friend's birthday is not until November, and she does not follow me on Flickr, so I was safe to use them for the theme this week. Although unmarked, the cups, which have china so thin you can see light and shadow through them, I believe are most likely German or Austrian and are I estimate late Victorian. I know my friend will love these when she gets them for her birthday. The paper is a roll of wrapping paper that I could never bear to use, and have actually found quite handy for photography purposes. I do hope you like my choice for today's theme, and that it makes you smile!

Rosie is my little bear Scout's cousin, because like Scout, she is a free trade knitted bear from Africa. She was made in Kenya by one of the Kenana Knitters, Martha Wanjira. She is made from home spun and dyed wool. She was a gift to me from two very dear friends, including the one who gave Scout to Paddy.

「伴」：天圓地方(杯為圓，杯墊為方)，茶湯在天地之間，天地任遨遊，好茶為伴。

「伴」：伴，得有人(人字邊)，要有兩半(合而為一完整)(椰棗剖半、核桃剖半)。

I have been participating in a project group called 100 Possibilities. Unfortunately, the tea cup I was using for those possibilities slipped off the drying rack yesterday and was smashed to pieces. I was incredibly bummed. This was my favorite tea cup and I am nowhere near finished with the project. I have decided to use this sister tea cup as a stand in for the remainder of the project. She's just as pretty and will pay fair homage to her fallen sibling.