Dear Wedgwood Enthusiast,
We at Alexis Antiques and CollegePlates.com hope you have had a nice, mild winter and are enjoying your daffodils and tulips by now; we are! We hardly had any winter, a good snow was nowhere to be found. Not too much Wedgwood news right now but a few tidbits we hope will interest you.
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HINTS OF THINGS COMING AND GOING ON
NEW & FEATURED ITEMS on our website is the place to read all about our newest acquisitions and more descriptive information on many items. Check it out! The most recent 25 items added to inventory will appear in the left hand column. If we add two items with the same name at one time, only one will show, so be sure to check that category if you don't see exactly what you want. And don't forget to browse our great selection of links to many websites of interest to Wedgwood collectors! Read our Featured Items closely, as we usually have a special or two hidden in those descriptive frames.
Speaking of new items, we've been adding some fresh merchandise from a large west coast collection to our inventory. Some are already posted and some are still to come. Caneware, basalt, black jasper, jewelry, and a fabulous antique Queen's Ware pierced strawberry dish in pattern #82 painted overglaze are already there for viewing; more caneware and a variety of other wares will follow in the coming weeks. Be sure to watch the site, come back often and shop with reckless abandon! (That's a favorite phrase stolen from a great stamp seller friend of mine!)
The 51st Wedgwood International Seminar in Long Beach, CA has come and gone and was a wonderful Seminar with great food, great Wedgwood and lovely southern California hospitality. The Wedgwood exhibit at the Long Beach Museum of Art (continues until August 6) was well mounted, and the examples of modern design enlightening. WIS First Vice President Bob Wedgwood wrote a superlative exhibition catalog. But, wait! NEXT YEAR'S seminar is already in the planning stages, currently scheduled for the end of May in Toronto! Congratulations to Dr. Keith McLeod, the best Seminar coordinator on Earth, on his well-deserved election to President of this august Wedgwood group. Stay tuned here and to our website Links for information as it unfolds about the NEXT Wedgwood extravaganza on Professor McLeod's home turf!
WEDGWOOD in the NEWS
Majolica Auctions of Hatfield, PA held a Majolica auction on March 24th & 25th. As always I highly recommend interested majolica collectors contact them (www.majolicaauctions.com) to be placed on their mailing list for their fabulous color catalogs and prices realized lists. These catalogs are invaluable collector's tools and Mr. Strawser puts out a top notch publication. Their next auction will be October 27/28, 2006. I'd love to hear from anyone who has attended one of Strawser's auctions in person. And if you collect German majolica, let me know, I just stumbled onto a great plate!
The Magazine Antiques March 06 issue brings us a well-illustrated article on 19th century decorative arts, to include a photo of a set of Red Riding Hood tiles designed by Thomas Allen. Other ceramic items and period furniture are well-represented too. A great issue for women, there is an article entitled "John Singer Sargent and modern womanhood" as well as a good treatise on South Carolina samplers not to be missed as once again the photos & text are fabulous.
House Beautiful for April has an article about kitchens and shows a great black cabinet full of antique and vintage white ironstone and cream colored Wedgwood Queen's Ware, a spectacular look of different shapes and textures, drawn together by its creamy whiteness.
Traditional Home for March shows quite a bit of Asiatica, a style that seems timeless doesn't it, in its monthly column "Marketplace". Making another quick appearance is a plate by Robert Dawson called "Bird Plate", $40 from the Blue Willow collection for Wedgwood. We've seen this before, a new series capturing elements from the classic "Willow" pattern - very modern, very upscale and very fun.
And one we missed! Holiday 05 issue of Traditional Home shows a great dining room in brown velvet, crystal chandelier and beautifully set table with creamy Wedgwood "Patrician" Queen's Ware.
BITZ & BYTEZ
From the Northern Ceramic Society Newsletter #140, December 05 issue, comes this tidbit: "Planning approval has been given for a 5-star hotel at Wedgwood, Barlaston, subject to green belt consent....Wedgwood bringing production of Old Country Roses pattern wares back to England from Indonesia." Here's another tidbit, "Norman Williams, trading as DNW CERAMICS, Longton, has been charged with illegally back-stamping pottery with Clarice Cliff marks and possessing Wade and Carlton ware figurines with false trademarks." There is an article on pate-sur-pate and L. A. Birks in this same issue.
Here are some tidbits from the September, 2005 issue: In April 05 "Royal Doulton's Nile St. factory, Burslem, closed, 20 workers kept on for decorating & 60 transferred to Wedgwood." Also, "The Waterford Wedgwood Group is shedding 1800 jobs; merger with Royal Doulton 950, retail and distribution 300, Dungavan glass plant closure 400, Waterford Glass 85, Rosenthal 160. (Royal Doulton staff became Waterford Wedgwood employees at the takeover.)" For membership information to Northern Ceramic Society contact the Membership Secretary, Emlyn Roberts, h.b.roberts@btinternet.com. The meetings all take place in the UK but the publication is excellent, full of interesting articles on all aspects of ceramics. Thanks go to my great friend Mary Beardmore, of the Frank Beardmore ceramic family, for sending me these two issues of NCS newsletters.
A LIST OF MAGAZINES TO LOOK FOR
The Magazine Antiques, August 1943 An interesting article by Jean Gorely of Boston (you know, the Secretary of the Boston Wedgwood Club) entitled "Cream Color, Alias Queen's Ware" - you will learn the name of the process by which the black & white "Liverpool Birds" pattern was decorated, why early creamware was manufactured to be so lightweight, and you will see a strawberry dish the same age and similar pattern to our newly listed WWRC702.
The Magazine Antiques, September 1943 Another great war-time issue having a letter from Elizabeth Chellis of Boston regarding an original letter from Josiah she had just acquired. There are a couple of small Wedgwood ads too, one of which is entitled "If it's Wedgwood you want I have it."
The Magazine Antiques, October 1943 A great cover featuring Meriwether Lewis and a good article on Liverpool Wares. These war-time issues have incredibly interesting and artistic covers! If I had the wall space, I'd just frame them all!
WEDGWOOD SERENDIPITY
Last time I mentioned The Mentor, an old magazine which published articles about many varied subjects to help the reader learn a lot about a subject in a little time. Another issue's cover is Abraham Lincoln, the reason I purchased it. As a Civil War buff and on the heels of the Lincoln PBS productions of this winter, I wanted to read an early view on Honest Abe. Ever on the lookout for a Wedgwood connection, I found two photos in an article about "Cedar Grove", a historic home in Edgefield, SC. On a sideboard and a drawing room table are pieces of Wedgwood, described in the photo captions with prominent mention for a single basalt sugar dish and a pair of blue & white transfer hunting scene pitchers! If one is interested in Lincolniana you might want to search for the March 1929 issue of The Mentor. Don't buy it for the photos of Wedgwood in a historic home, the photos aren't very good!
Speaking of mentors, I'm off to the Washington DC area in April for a number of purposes, one of which is a visit to my good pals Adele and Al Barnett, mentors to many Wedgwood collectors and scions of the Wedgwood Society of Washington DC, known in some circles as the Stringfellow Arms Wedgwood Club. You will have to join (the best bargain in Wedgwood-dom) to figure out the Stringfellow connection! Why not visit their website (http://wedgwoodcapital.org/) and join? If you don't live in their area, you will still benefit from the fine newsletters. If you are lucky and live near enough to DC to attend meetings, you will have a great time and learn oh so much in the company of great people. On April 8th I'll be speaking to the National Society of New England Women at the Wellesley Club in Boston, so am looking forward to attending the meeting of the Boston Wedgwood Society the same day in the same place- another great group of Wedgwoodians - and what great timing! Go to www.wedgwoodsociety.org for information. See our LINKS for connections to all the Wedgwood societies worldwide. More information about the exhibit in Long Beach can probably be gotten from the wonderful Wedgwood Society of Southern California folks too. They were very instrumental in producing the exhibit along with the LBMA.
And herewith as a parting tidbit, a letter to the editor of The Magazine Antiques (August 1943):
"Nearly everything is being rationed these days-but I hope I'll still be able to enjoy my ANITQUES..." and the editor's response: "We hope you will never have to forego your ANTIQUES dear subscriber, but we ask your patience and generosity during the next few months. For ANTIQUES is already rationed-with limitations on the paper and wire we may use to print and bind it. If ANTIQUES is a day or so late in reaching you due to wartime delays, be patient with its publishers. And be generous with your ANTIQUES-make your copy go as far as possible by sharing it with your friends." Guess that admonishment worked, my copy is still being used over 60 years later! Just imagine the editor of ANTIQUES, or any other current magazine, addressing today's readers in this fashion! Ah for the good old days!
That's it for today. We do hope you will let us continue to drop into your email inbox and stay! We welcome your visits to our websites for purchase or information (we're always adding new informational links) or just a fun browse through the incredible production of our favorite potter! Mention having read our enewsletter and we'll take half off your shipping via USMAIL on any order. Remember those spring graduations and weddings are the perfect occasions for giving college plates!
Thank you for reading and visiting!
Leslie, Matt, Kathlyn, John and all of us at Alexis Antiques and CollegePlates.com.
http://www.alexisantiques.com/
wedgwood@alexisantiques.com
www.collegeplates.com
