Dear Wedgwood Enthusiast,
We at Alexis Antiques and CollegePlates.com hope your spring weather was to your liking, although so many parts of the country are having such contrary weather patterns! Summer is hot and humid in St. Louis, but that is our normal expectation so we can't complain! Well, we can and do, but to no avail!
You are receiving this newsletter because as a customer or visitor of ours, we believe you requested to be included in our mailings. Please be assured that we never share addresses or other private information with other parties, and if you opt out using the links at the bottom of this email, you will be removed. Our "Want List", however, is separate, and will not be affected by your choice regarding our newsletters. Please email us any time you'd like to add a product to your want list.
HINTS OF THINGS COMING AND GOING ON
The NEW & FEATURED ITEMS page of our website is the place to read all about our newest acquisitions and more descriptive information on many items. 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 once, only one will show, so be sure to check that category to see all its items. And don't forget to browse our great selection of LINKS to many websites of interest to Wedgwood collectors! Read our Featured Items closely, we usually have a special or two hidden in those descriptive frames.
Speaking of new items, we want to let you know we have recently added a gorgeous selection of caneware and drab stoneware (drabware) items to the site, plus some new green and blue dip jasper, black basalt and a darling old Seaweed sauce tureen. Most of these items can be seen in Our Newest Items.
There is still time to visit "Art & Tradition: Design at Wedgwood in the Twentieth Century" at the Long Beach (CA) Museum of Art. Have lunch and view the well-displayed exhibit mounted with the able assistance of the members of the Wedgwood Society of Southern California. To August 6.
The 52nd Wedgwood International Seminar will take place May 23-25, 2007 at the Tremont Plaza Hotel, Baltimore, MD. It is NOT too early to pay your WIS dues and make plans now for Wedgwood galore in one of America's most beautiful and historic cities.
WEDGWOOD in the NEWS
The Magazine Antiques July 06 issue brings us a well-illustrated article by Diana Edwards, one of the speakers at WIS07, on Salt-Glazed stoneware. Diana is very well versed in all facets of ceramic production so this is indeed a not-to-miss article. Page 20 sports an ad with a picture of an early creamware punch stand, something not seen very often.
British Heritage, July 06, sports a full size photo of the 1790 Portland Vase which today resides at the British Museum. Standing in front of its glass case can be a mesmerizing experience, but if you can't get to the Museum, try this article by Christian Kirkpatrick. It's a good overview of the Potteries and Wedgwood in particular. Included is a half-page insert about Lenox China, called "The Staffordshire of America".
BITS & BYTEZ
Ever on the lookout for a word or photo about Wedgwood, I spotted a black & white photo of a Wedgwood & Bentley portrait medallion in a full page ad for Ginsburg and Levy, Inc. in the September, 1930, issue of The Magazine Antiques. Naturally my eye went right to the medallion, described as "Washington as a Roman". Then one's eye naturally tracks to the vignette of a Georgian room in the next photo. As I read the accompanying text I had to smile, I believe this might be the most unusual segue from Wedgwood to furniture I've ever encountered. Look here to see if you don't agree!
A LIST OF MAGAZINES TO LOOK FOR
Also in The Magazine Antiques, September, 1930, mentioned above is an interesting article on "Catskill Moss" Earthenware, a rare Staffordshire transferware pattern, illustrating some in-depth research undertaken many years ago. The cover of this issue is cream with a transferware blue & white oval platter in center, a smashing cover even without the content!
The September, 1956 issue of The Antiques Journal would look nice lying around one's Wedgwood-filled study or living room. Two black basalt vases with garlands and masks adorn the cover, both of Wedgwood & Bentley production. The cover is the intro to a short article on "The Wedgwood Museum" by Joan Ranzenhofer. As an aside, don't forget the Wedgwood Museum Trust is still seeking donations toward the completion of the new Wedgwood Museum at the Barlaston factory. This is an important undertaking not only for the area's tourism and ceramic industries, but for the total scope of ceramic history and study by worldwide scholars. If you don't know how to donate or to learn more information, do contact us and we'll put you in touch with the right people. Or simply email info@wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk or see www.wedgwoodmuseum.com. Back to our article.
Remember, we are in 1956 a LONG way from museum and factory tours, watching throwers and ornamenters, shopping in the factory shop or having tea on Wedgwood bone china as we do on a museum tour today! The introductory paragraph of the article tells it all; "Tucked away in a quiet back room of the Wedgwood wholesale showroom on Wigmore Street in London is a museum rarely seen by tourists, and one that deserves to be better known." I should say, the company museum was first opened in 1951 and became so popular that it was kept open for the pleasure of Londoners. They sold reference books then... a far cry from the beautiful shops provided at Barlaston today! The article then goes on to discuss what pieces are actually seen in the cases, such as Jasper Chessmen, Queen's Ware, examples of trial pieces for the Frog Service, and a lovely green glaze ware leaf dish which you can see here. Having visited the current factory and museum several times, reading this article brought immediately to mind the phrase "time warp".
Another of the war-time The Magazine Antiques issues (April, 1944) provides us with a great look into Wedgwood and other Staffordshire potters' manufacture of USEFUL WARES. Nina Fletcher Little introduces us to knife rests, strainers, ladles, nursing bottles, pap boats, milk pans and skimmers among other useful items that today we don't think of as having originated in a ceramic form. This rather obscure reference might not be of interest to all, but certainly to anyone researching the specific subject, or the various forms for creamware use. We find Florence Nicholls of Ithaca, NY still selling buttons, to include Wedgwood examples, as her ad appears on page 202. And this month Ginsburg & Levy are using Lowestoft to adorn their antique Sheraton 1790s sideboard! Mottahedeh & Sons of NYC advertises on page two the Wedgwood bust of Shakespeare accompanied by the famous Josiah quote of 1774, "The black is sterling and will last forever".
The 1943 issue of Old Wedgwood was hot off the press when this issue of TMA went to press and is touted in their column The Almanac on page 38. The reviewer's remarks are as accurate today as they were in July of 1944: "Like its predecessors, it contains much valuable and elsewhere inaccessible information for students of Wedgwood and other ceramic wares. The digest of meetings held during 1942-43 gives really impressive evidence of the serious investigative work that is being done by Club members. Those who presented programs made real contributions to knowledge based on thorough research, and did not succumb to the temptation awaiting all collectors, merely to gloat over their own acquisitions. ...Wedgwood's use of the child motif is the special study of Mrs. Robert D. Chellis and will be treated by her from another point of view in an early issue of this Magazine." The volume was available to non-members for $1.35 postpaid by mailing to "Mrs. Gorely, Wellesley Hills, MA" ... What simpler times. YOU can have these invaluable books even easier, by just clicking HERE.
WEDGWOOD SERENDIPITY
Wherein we shall share with you fun happenings that occur
when we are not even thinking about Wedgwood
In my role as President General of the National Society of New England Women, I recently visited the Sibley House Museum in Mendota, Minnesota after our local group meeting in the St. Paul area. After a delightful tour of this historic 1838 home of course a trip through the small but nice gift shop was in order. Looking for post cards and greeting cards and perhaps a magnet, certainly nothing Wedgwood was on my mind but I looked around and there it was, a brand new Edme-bordered Queen's Ware souvenir dinner plate with the blue & white transferred image of the house depicted right on it! The house was given many years ago to the Minnesota State DAR organization, but has now been transferred to a state entity. One of my companions smiled and asked why I wanted a DAR plate as a souvenir of a New England Women visit! As you can see rivalry abounds in my life, Wedgwood, Lowestoft, Lenox even my ancestors' influence finds its way into the mix!
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 & our past enewsletters can all be found on the links page too) 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 fall means back-to-school and college plates are the perfect gift for that new college freshman or high school senior who is celebrating early acceptance!
Thank you for reading and visiting!!
Leslie, Matt, Paul, Ron, Kathlyn, John and all of us at Alexis Antiques and CollegePlates.com.
http://www.alexisantiques.com/
http://www.collegeplates.com/
wedgwood@alexisantiques.com
