Fancy a Cuppa Tea?

Although I mainly buy and sell West-German Fat Lava pottery and Mid Century glass as I collect these items myself, I do see a lot of wonderful other vintage or antique items when visiting fairs or shops. And being blessed with the collectors gen, sometimes you just fall in love with something, and you need to buy it.

A few weeks ago me and my husband were browsing one of the last outdoor markets of the year, it was lovely weather and there were a lot of sellers, and we found a plethora of goodies. Two of my favorite finds that day were tea-themed, and they complement each other perfectly!

First of all, we came upon this fab teacup and saucer. This isn't any old teacup, but proper British bone china. This piece was made as a commemorative item for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer by the company Regency China Ltd, founded in 1953 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. As it was made for the Royal Wedding, we can date it exactly to 1981, which is always lovely.

Commemorative cup for Charles and Diana by Regency China Ltd, 1981

Sadly I wasn't yet around in 1981, so I don't have any memories of that royal wedding, but I do remember seeing lady Di on the television during my childhood, and thinking what a beautiful and stylish lady she was.

Lady Diana, collage courtesy of fabsugar

Although I realize an enormous amount of commemorative goodies must have been made for the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana, just as was the case for the Royal Wedding of William and Kate, I do think some items are good investments that have the potential to become real collectibles. This cup and saucer are quite high quality and have some lovely transfer prints, in pretty pastel colors. However, I mainly fell in love with it because to me this item is so quintessentially British, and I've had a thing for the UK ever since I was a little girl.

Now, I was already a happy bunny after finding the teacup and saucer, but things were about to get even better! One of the other sellers was selling this stunning set of six Mid Century silver demitasse spoons. Each spoon has a different color of enamel, they come in their original box , and look like they were never used. How can you not fall in love with these, they are so pretty!

Egon Lauridsen Mid Century Danish silver enamel spoons

The spoons were made by Egon Lauridsen from Denmark. This silver smith worked in Copenhagen, and the particular mark on this spoons was used between 1936 and 1966. Sadly, I couldn't find more information about the maker. It does seem like this kind of enamel on silver items were common in Scandinavia in the fifties and sixties; in addition to spoons, bowls and cruet sets, a lot of silver on enamel jewellery can also be found.

Image courtesy of Veilinghuis Peerdeman

I have to admit that I have a bit of a weak spot for enamel on silver, and especially guilloche enamel. A few years ago I was at a local auction where I spotted the most beautiful silver miniature powder compact with green enamel guilloche decoration. It was made in a way that you could wear it as a pendant on a necklace. It even had the original little powder puff. Although I caught a bit of auction fever during bidding, I still wasn't able to purchase the compact. I regret not buying it until today.

Although it is obviously not the same, finding these pretty little teaspoons really made my day!

My First Fair!

Do you life in the Netherlands, and would you like to browse our items offline? You'll be able to see all the items in my Etsy shop and more on the 2nd and 3rd of November at the Collectors Fair in Nieuwegein (near Utrecht).

Hou je van vintage items en West-Germany vazen en wil je mijn vintage spulletjes liever in het echt bekijken? Op 2 & 3 november sta ik met een grote collectie Duits keramiek uit de jaren zeventig, Mid Century glas en andere items uit de jaren 50, 60 en 70 op de Grote Verzamel- en Curiosabeurs van Verzamelend Nederland in de Home Boxx in Nieuwegein!

Chariots of Fire

Remember the classic Egyptian inspiration for this Uebelacker vase that I wrote about a few weeks ago? Well, I have another German take on the classics for you today!

As we have had amazing autumn weather for the last two weeks, we decided to pick up my parents (who love a bit of antique-hunting themselves - I didn't get this passion from a stranger) and drive to Germany for the last few outdoor markets of this year.

These treasure hunts are what made me start collecting and selling vintage goodies in the first place. The thrill of the find, the feeling of anticipation and excitement on the way to the first market; you never know what you might find. We've had times when we came away with one small vase, but luckily we've also had trips were we returned with a car full of goodies.

This time we found some lovely items, the weather was good, it was great to spend time with my parents, people understood my German, and we had a Bratwurst. What more can one wish for?

One of the most enjoyable finds was this stunning baby blue vase with a décor of horse-drawn chariots, made by Jopeko. We found this beauty on the biggest market of the day, which mostly had people selling new items, and only a few sellers of used items. It is always difficult to predict if this will be the case in Germany, as both types of markets are called Trödelmarkt.

Jopeko 509-18, design from 1958

  

Even though this market didn't seem to be what we were looking for, we still decided to do a quick round, and at the last stand I spotted this vase, standing at the back of the stall. The lady who sold the vase told us that it was given to them by a Greek neighbor, and told them that it was a souvenir from Greece! At that time I couldn't read the markings on the vase, but I was still pretty sure that it was a fifties or sixties vase made by a West-German factory, so I bought it anyway.

When we came home, and it was time to do a bit of research, I found out that the vase is actually marked Foreign on the bottom, and not the usual West-Germany. I'm still wondering if the neighbor did actually buy the vase in Greece and brought it back to Germany, or if he bought it in Germany and didn't tell them or the story was remembered incorrectly.

Greek Amphora, British Museum

My first hunch, based on the shape of the vase, was that it was made by Kreutz or possibly by Jopeko. The sweet folks on the Pottery and Glass forum helped me out again, and they confirmed that it was indeed made by Jopeko. The shape of the vase was designed in 1958. This décor can also be found in black on red, and black on brown, even though in that case the chariots are in relief, and not impressed, as is the case with this example.

The image of horse-drawn chariots was of course based on decorations on ancient Greek and Roman vases, and this masculine, powerful image  was often used on West-German pottery, for example by Ruscha on wall-plaques and by Scheurich on floor vases.

The black on the light blue background works extremely well, and the slender handle make this a very elegant vase. Although the decoration is clearly inspired by the classics, the shape is quite innovative, and very Mid Century Modern.

I would love to hear if you have any clues if the vase might actually have come from Greece, if you have similar stories, please leave a comment!