Mosaic Monday: Blue Transferware

While I've been reveling for the past few weeks in all the beautiful autumn colors, I felt the need to take a break and look with a fresh eye at something decidedly different. So I'm creating a mosaic of blues today, from some photos that are in my archives.

The blue transferware dish (top, left) belonged to my mother. I don't really remember seeing it when I was a child, but I found it in a closet wrapped in tissue paper so she must have treasured it. It's a bit worse for wear, but the central scene and the flowery rim are beautifully detailed. The backstamp says "Semi-China, English Scenery." A little research suggests that it was made by Minton, circa 1830.

The silver-plated carving set whose handles you see in the photo (bottom right) was a thrift store purchase. It is marked "Griffon Cutlery Works, Germany." The handles have a lovely pheasant and grape leaf motif, reminiscent of Tiffany's Audubon series. The transferware platter they rest upon is marked "Booth's British Scenery." I believe it is from the 1950's -- beautiful but not particularly old.

The flowers are from my garden this past summer. Why does it seem so long ago already? The purple/pink blooms (top, right) are physostegia or obedient plant, so called because the each individual floret will remain wherever it is turned on the stem. I'm not sure if this is just an old wive's tale, but I do know that the plant thrives on neglect and is a stalwart grower in my garden. The white blossom (bottom, left) is a Festiva Maxima peony.

Now let's have some mosaic fun! Here are the instructions:
1. Publish your Mosaic Monday post.
2. Once it is published, click on the title of the post. This will lead you to the static link for your post. The static link is the page with only that post on it. Copy the url from your browser at the top of the page.
3. Paste the url into the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
4. Type your name in the appropriate inlinkz box in this post.
5. Click on "Enter."
6. Please link back to this Mosaic Monday post so that your readers can find other wonderful mosaics.

That's all there is to it! It's always a good idea to then check and see if your link is working. If you have any questions, feel free to email me: mrcarroll(at)optonline.