Tea Leaf Club International | Additional Tea Leaf OnLine Back Issues
Back Issues - April-June 2002
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
June 16, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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This week's feature photo comes to us from eBay. It's hard not to feature an almost complete Anthony Shaw Basketweave bath set, even though there's a milk jug stuck in here as an ancillary pitcher. Congratulations to Gene & Betty on their new acquisition.
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TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
None this weekEmail address changes...
None this weekUndeliverable email addresses...
None this weekDISCUSSION TOPIC
DISCUSSION TOPIC: SELLING TEA LEAF
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Three of our members are combining and selling a large portion of their collection
at auction in a couple of weeks. Have you considered disposing of all or part
of your collection? Do you periodically dispose of some of your collection?
By what means? Do you turnover or cull the collection? How do you decide
what to sell? If not a dealer do you ever buy something with the intent of
reselling?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 876
Regional Meetings
Important Upcoming Deadlines
JUNE 30
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Exceptional Service Award Nominations are due Saturday, June 30.
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JULY 1
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2002 Auction Consignments due. Send to Nancy Upchurch
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AUG 15
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Convention registration deadline for "Early Bird" registrations
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AUG 15
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Hotel reservation deadline for special Tea Leaf group rate. Interested in getting your hotel reservation taken care of? Call the Nashville Airport Marriott at 615-889-9300 and be certain to mention that you're with the Tea Leaf Club to qualify for the $89 nightly group rate.
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SEPT
19-22
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CONVENTION! Nashville Tennessee
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Convention News
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Have you marked your calendars for September 19-22?
What a line-up we've got planned for this year's convention. Don't miss a single event!
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SEEN ON 
SHAW CHINESE SHAPE COFFEEPOT
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Seller's Description
We are pleased to offer this Anthony Shaw Tea Leaf Ironstone Teapot for auction. This piece measures 9 1/2 inches high, 6 1/2 inches front to back, and 9 inches handle to spout. It is in the Chinese pattern. It is in great condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs. It is marked as shown below. It does have a very small flake on inside rim shown in the last photo below. It also has some stain spots only on the one side.
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SHAW CHINESE SHAPE COVERED VEG
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Seller's Description
We are pleased to offer this Anthony Shaw Tea Leaf Ironstone Oval Covered Casserole for auction. This piece measures 12 by 8 inches and is 7 inches high. It is in the Chinese pattern. It is in great condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs. It is marked as shown below. It does have a very small craze flake on the handle.
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SHAW CHINESE SHAPE HIGH-LIPPED CREAMER
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Seller's Description
We are pleased to offer this Anthony Shaw Tea Leaf Ironstone Creamer for auction. This piece measures 6 1/4 inches high, 4 inches front to back, and 5 1/2 inches handle to spout. It is in great condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs.
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
Julie writes regarding the Dresden mark which Riene inquired about a couple issues ago...
I do hate to disagree with Nancy (anybody else is fair game) but Dresden is not a mark used by Brunt, etc. The mark is The Potters Cooperative and that mark was used in 1897 (Gates book-pg. 215). Potters Cooperative was founded in 1882 as a result of a lockout by companies of potters who were seeking to form a labor union. Eight potters went together and founded the company with H.A.McNicol as President.
They purchased the Dresden pottery from Brunt, Bloor, Martin & Co.. Hence the use of the name "Dresden" on their ironstone. The first company lasted only a year because there was great dissension among the 8 original potters. However, The Potters Cooperative continued under McNicol until 1925. It then became the Dresden Pottery Company. Henry, T.A., Patrick McNicol and W. H. Vodrey and A.P. McPherson issued the stock in the new company which continued producing ironstone until 1927. Their backmark contained the words "S.V.China, Made in USA". Only the Potters Cooperative used the world mark.
I thought that I had sent this to TLOL but maybe only sent it to Riene. Sorry that the last letter I sent corrected Dale and now this one correcting Nancy but it best that we share what we know.
As for disbursement of our collections. Neither of my daughters really want all this TL and I have made my will to read that it is to be auctioned by Terrill with the exception of any pieces that Roxann or Todd would like to keep. I've also made note of certain pieces that will go to good friends. The Morning Glory child's set will be auctioned by the Tea Leaf Club and the proceeds are to go to the Annise Heaivilin Fund. Or if that is not possible, it will be auctioned with the proceeds of that auction going to the Fund. Facing my 77th birthday in just a few weeks and following the shock of having a pickup truck rearrange my head, my body and my car, I thought it best to make sure of certain arrangements. Hopefully, there will be some of you who like American TL because there is certainly a lot of that. But there are a few other nice little items so be prepared.
As far as Bill Smith's cup, I have had one of those for a long time. I'm sure it appeared in some issue of Readings. That TL was used by Glasgow (John Moses), Wick and maybe some other American company. I've often wondered whether the decorator who used it traveled around the circuit. Glasgow was in Trenton, Wick, of course, in PA. John Moses was among the first potters to propose that there be a decorating company used instead of the potteries having the expense of each using their own decorators.
Julie
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From Atlanta, Karen asks...
Hi, I have a question about finding tea leaf dishes. I have been going to bazaars, flea markets, antique shows, and antique malls, all over Georgia and some parts of Tennessee. I rarely see any tea leaf dishes. Were these dishes more prevalent in the North? My few pieces came from Ohio. I just don't see much of it here. Anyone have some thoughts on this?
Karen in Atlanta
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Nancy's Berry Cluster platter has arrived...
The platter is here and it is beautiful. Right now it's soaking in peroxide to remove a few stains. Yes, I recognized it as J.Furnival's Berry Cluster despite the blurry photo on Ebay. It is a really showy piece. I may bring it to Show & Tell at the convention to show it off. Actually, I really didn't think I'd win the bid because we were out of town when the auction closed. Before leaving, I left a bid equivalent to what I would pay for it in a mall or shop. And lo and behold! It was enough to secure the bid.
Since this is the last TLOL before the auction deadline, I want to urge you to please, PLEASE, get those auction consignment forms in. I've received eight so far - I still need a good twenty more to make up a good and interesting auction. My thanks to those eight folks who heeded our request and have already sent their forms. How about the rest of you? Surely you have something you'd be willing to part with. Deadline is JULY 1st.
To respond to the topic of the week: I was introduced to TLCI by Grandma herself. After Don purchased the Prairie Shape child's set for me, I was anxious to learn more about this lustred ironstone. Grandma's book had just been published - Don saw an ad for it in one of the trade papers and ordered it for me. I wrote to Annise about the items in one of the photos. She responded with the information I requested and also told me about the club. I couldn't wait to join! Because I was teaching then, I was not able to attend the convention that year (I think it was in Columbus) but I did attend the next year and every year since! I feel honored to literally have been sponsored by Grandma Annise.
That's all the news for now - get those CONSIGNMENT FORMS IN PRONTO PLEASE!
Nancy Upchurch
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Ann Derner lets us know...
A new stamp has come out commentating the WTC on 9/11, it shows 3 fire fighters putting up the flag, it sells for 45 cents and the extra cost is going to the families of the survivors.
Ann Derner
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The eBay misnomers just leep coming, this one from the Dieringers...
How's this to add to the list of eBay misnomers? #2032242944 is listed as an Ironstone roaster pot. It is obviously a footbath!
Ernie & Bev
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And, lastly, Terrell reminds everyone about next weekend's Tea Leaf auction...
Auction reminder for June 22nd, 10:00 Central time Connersville, In.
Mary Bertram, Bob Skinner and Harold Wyand, three long time friends of our Tea Leaf Club, will be combining portions of their collections for a fantastic auction that you won't want to miss! This will be a 6 hour sale consisting of 1100 pcs. selling in 468 lots of Tea Leaf and Transfer Ware.
Preview on Friday from 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.. Doors open Saturday at 7:30 A.M.. Lunch by our local Methodist church. Held in our new Civic Center located in the city park. Hope to see YOU there. "Thanks" in advance, Terrell and Phyllis Medd. Phone: 765-825-7479.
Terrell
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That's it for letters this week.
What a wonderful Great Lakes regional meeting we had yesterday at Sara and Tom Hummel's log home. 26 Tea Leafers enjoyed camaraderie, great food, neat table sales (Walt & Pat says it was the best table sales at any regional they've been to this year). We also spent as couple hours yesterday afternoon at the Barbershop Museum in Canal Winchester Ohio -- a very interestingly place. Sara and Tom have a large Tea Leaf collection and had set up vignettes all over their home. Every room had a least one themed display -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, Wedding Day, Breakfast in Bed, Tea Time, etc.
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There won't be another TLOL in June so please take a few moments before the end of the month to send in a contribution to the next issue.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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July 7, 14, 21, 28
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
June 9, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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This week's feature photo comes to us from an eBay seller who took their green and gold Ceres milk pitcher and artfully added a beautiful Spring floral display.
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TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
Welcome to new members Mary Beth & Rex Oberg (PA) Howdy, too, to Sue Summers (CA) Email address changes...
Glenda Deal reports a new email address Undeliverable email addresses...
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: SELLING TEA LEAF |
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Three of our members are combining and selling a large portion of their collection
at auction in a couple of weeks. Have you considered disposing of all or part
of your collection? Do you periodically dispose of some of your collection?
By what means? Do you turnover or cull the collection? How do you decide
what to sell? If not a dealer do you ever buy something with the intent of
reselling?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 876
Regional Meetings
Important Upcoming Deadlines
JUNE 30
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Exceptional Service Award Nominations are due Saturday, June 30. .
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JULY 1
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2002 Auction Consignments due.
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AUG 15
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Convention registration deadline for "Early Bird" registrations
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AUG 15
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Hotel reservation deadline for special Tea Leaf group rate. Interested in getting your hotel reservation taken care of? Call the Nashville Airport Marriott at 615-889-9300 and be certain to mention that you're with the Tea Leaf Club to qualify for the $89 nightly group rate.
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SEPT
19-22
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CONVENTION! Nashville Tennessee
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Convention News
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Have you marked your calendars for September 19-22?
What a line-up we've got planned for this year's convention. Don't miss a single event!
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SEEN ON
EDWARDS PEERLESS ("FEATHER") COFFEEPOT
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Seller's Description
Here's a Rare Tealeaf Peerless Pattern Coffee Pot. I've had this piece in my collection for about 10 years. It measures 9 1/2" tall w/lid 10" from spout to handle. These pictures do not show the feathers that border this coffee pot it's very unusual. The copper is in excellent condition except for the crazing this is a must have for any Tealeaf collector.
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ALFRED MEAKIN BROCADE COVERED VEG
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Seller's Description
This lovely tureen is in mint condition! Both the lid and the bottom have a lovely brocade pattern. This piece also has large copper-luster tea-leaves and a very elegant trim. It measures seven inches across the top, six to seven inches tall, and is twelve inches long including the handles. This gorgeous collectable has no darkness, cracks, or chips. The bottom is stamped "Royal Ironstone China" Alfred Meakin England with the lion crest and insignia.
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WILKINSON MAIDENHAIR FERN PITCHER & BOWL
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Seller's Description
This large tea leaf ewer and bowl was made by A.J.Wilkinson. The design is maidenleaf fern. It is shown on page 130 of Grandma's Tea Leaf Ironstone text. The ewer measures 12" in height. The pitcher (ewer) is in good condition with no chips. There is a 1 1/2" circular brown spot in the center. The bowl is also in good condition, having only a small nick on the rim. It measures 15" in diameter and is 5" high.
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week. View previously-submitted profiles here...
TLOL Member Profiles
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To send your own profile today
<--- click here
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LETTERS
Thanks to Walt for sharing some photos of Tea Leaf collectors and their grandchildren...
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Gerry Nelson & granddaughter Rachel
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Charlie, Charla & grandson Jord Miller
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In a letter last week, Ruth Bull asked about putting Tea Leaf in the dishwasher. Dick Brackin responds...
This is really directed to Ruth Bull, but I guess anyone can read it. Ruth asks if Tea Leaf "should" be put into the dishwasher.
My response has always been "Never!" I have never put a piece in the dishwasher nor have I ever put a piece in the oven except when I was still in the cleaning business and baked it for an hour at 200 degrees F. after it had been soaked in peroxide. Then once it had cooled, I washed it by hand. I know that some folks say that they do wash their Tea Leaf regularly in the dishwasher. Others say that they do so, but do not add detergent, just put it through the water and drying cycles. I always fear that it will begin to wear the copper lustre. Certainly I would not put a piece with gold lustre in the machine for we all know how easily that can be worn away. I always wash my Tea Leaf in warm water with light detergent. There are, however some who suggest that even when washing by hand, if any detergent is used, it is harmful to the copper lustre. I am not an expert, but have a pretty strong personal fear of damage in the dishwasher. I guess that you will have to weigh all the comments you receive and make your own decision. You will need to be ready for the result however, if in time you recognize damage if you decide to put it in the "magic machine". :-)
Dick Brackin
[What about everyone else??? Do you put your TL in the dishwasher? DA]
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Regarding Riene's question about the Dresden mark, Nancy Upchurch sends...
Just finished reading [the May 26th] edition - great issue! Thought I'd comment on the Dresden mark - it's Brunt, Bloor & Martin. I'm sure Julie will write about it so don't print this.
Now you've made me jealous! My Chinoiserie sugar bowl doesn't have a pagoda and I want a piece with a pagoda. Are any of your pieces marked? I'd sure like to know who potted these interesting dishes.
I once took an Elderhostel seminar in Williamsburg, VA that was conducted by John Austin. Great teacher and very interesting man. He's written several books on English ceramics, but not past 1850. If he has endorsed the book you reported on, then it's definitely worth owning. Thanks for the info.
Nancy
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Giftique Chair Marie writes...
From the Giftique
Spring is here and summer is on the way. If you're like me, you're looking forward to cooking on the grill. Not only will we be eating outdoors when we're by ourselves, but we'll also be going to picnics and parties with friends and family to share great food and great fellowship.
If you're like me in another way, a percentage of what you'll eat at these get togethers will end up on your clothes. So, I plan on using plenty of Tea Leaf napkins this spring and summer. Even if you don't usually end up wearing part of your meal, Tea Leaf napkins can still be useful. Use them at all your parties. What a wonderful way to steer the conversation around to the advantages of belonging to the Club? There are two different sizes of napkins to meet your every need. The luncheon napkins are 6-1/2" square with a gold foil Tea Leaf and beverage napkins are 5" square with a brown Tea Leaf. Both sell in bags of 50 for $6.00 per bag. If you're wise and want to stock up on napkins now, you can either email me at COMPTONMW@AOL.COM or use the Giftique Order form that was included in a previous Readings. Don't forget to include money to cover postage!
I wish you many wonderful meals outdoors this grilling season. I'll be out there with you. Just look for the stylish gold Tea Leaf napkin that will be tucked around my neck.
THANKS.
Marie
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Bev & Ernie report a Tea Leaf sighting in Connecticut...
Thought we should tell everyone that Tea Leaf is still found in CT. We went to a show in Ridgefield, CT yesterday and there was a New York dealer that had a three piece sauce tureen ($90.) and matching covered vegetable tureen ($80.) in Wilkinson's Daisy & Chain. They were in excellent condition, great luster (a very tiny 1/16in. chip on sauce lid) Prices were negotiable. If anyone wants them, we are sure they still have them. Call Tom Newcomer (we actually talked with his wife) Horsefeathers Antiques 670-746-7644. Tell them the White Ironstone people told you about it. We bought White from them, and told them to join the two clubs.
Ernie & Bev
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Another antique show report from Margaret Mitchell...
Talked to Terrell Medd and his daughter at the Richmond Antique Show last Saturday. Didn't see much Tea Leaf, but Terrell had a few nice pieces left to sell when my friend and I arrived at his booth. He told me all about the upcoming Tea Leaf Auction in Connersville the 22nd of June and hoped I could make it. Don't know if I'll have the time this month, but am looking forward to the Regional meeting in Canal Winchester, Ohio at the Hummel's home. Will give you a full report. However, I figure you will be there because it is so close to your home, Dale. Did not see much Tea Leaf at the Richmond show, so I came home empty handed. Maybe I'll buy something at the Regional. Hope springs eternal.
Sincerely, Margaret
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And, finally, from Lona and Tinker...
Hello from Hill Town, Welcome all you new Tea Leafers. Happy Birthday to all you June Tea Leafers. Happy Anniversary to all you June love birds. Wow, we are June love birds, too cool. June 8th is our anniversary (12) years, and Sunday June 9th is our (1st) year anniversary .
Been reading all of the TLOLs and really have enjoyed all your emails and all the fantastic Tea Leaf pictures.
The Tea Leaf Readings were so awesome this time, good work you all. We have read it over and over. They are always just so fantastic. I had typed out an email for TLOL two days ago and I was just busy busy busy typing. I had quite a lot typed and all of a sudden the computer went blank, shut down. I was in such a state of shock that I just sat there looking at this blank screen. I jumped up ran out the kitchen door (So Mad ) and I was telling Tinker what had happened and how the computer shut down and I lost all the email I was typing to TLOL. I looked at him and he had this new plug in his hand and with this shocked and guilty look on his face. He said "I blew a fuse". He was replacing the plug in one of our cords that goes to the pump in the fish pond. He felt so bad and has told me a few times how sorry he was. Now that I think about it the look on his face was really funny, it was this guilty I am so sorry look . When we looked at each other it looked like something in a comic strip, just too funny. It took me 2 days to get up the nerve to try it again, lol lol lol, so here I am again.
Laura Butler, I lost it reading your email about the earthquake. You poor lady, I do understand when you said "I may never hear the end of it, but we all have our priorities, don't we???" A few years ago we had major flooding here and one evening a police car drove by with his bull horn and was telling everyone in the neighborhood to get ready to evacuate. I was out on the porch when he went by. I ran into the cabin screaming at Tinker. I mean I was in a bad state of mind. So we just stood there like "oh my god, what do we take". We have a 3 room cabin and it is full of antiques and collectables. At that time we had just started to collect Tea Leaf but we had over 500 stoneware items in our cabin. So I was not in very good shape. But after our friends came over to help us pack we found out that it was a false alarm. So I do understand. I bet you did go straight to your Tea Leaf. I would now. What a horrible thought, oh my.
I have no problem printing out TLOL now. The only problem now is that it does not matter what I print out it usually prints out in the landscape mode. Drives me crazy. I have gone in many times and switched back to the regular print out and most of the time it goes back to the landscape. My printer is not being nice.
Bill Smith, I almost had a seizure when I saw your American cup and saucer. WOW. A few weeks ago we went to Fredricksburg, Texas for a bed and breakfast night out in an old 1800's school house. It was a wedding gift some friends had given us last June when we got married. Anyway, we did see a few plates and a platter while junking up there and back. But we also found a little scolloped bone dish by Wilkinson. We paid $8.00 for it, not bad. It was not a great find but by golly we finally found something other than plates and platters to buy. It is so strange though, we can go into 50 antique shops and never see Tea Leaf and if we do it is plates and platters. We do not even see any variants or white ironstone, so strange. We see all kinds of dishes but nothing we collect. Where is it all???
Valerie, your flower arrangements are wonderful.
We made our reservations for the convention. What can we say, we are like 2 kids waiting to go to a big party to play with our friends and get lots of goodies, hee hee.
There was so much more I wanted to say but it would have made this email way too long and I could just see Dale saying, my gosh, does she ever shut up. Well, a girls got to do what a girls got to do and this girl needs to get off and get busy. Good bye for now from HILL TOWN,
Tinker & Lona
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That's it for letters this week.
I'm looking forward to next week's Great Lakes regional meeting right near Columbus in Canal Winchester Ohio. Who else will be there?
Only one more TLOL in June. Please take a few moments this week to send in a contribution to next weekend's issue.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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June 16
July 7, 14, 21, 28
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
June 2, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Only a small number of letters this week but I know we're all thankful to those who took a few moments to write.
TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
Welcome to new member Lura Smith Popovich, Plano, TX. William Smith is her brother & Duane Smith is her father.
Email address changes...
Undeliverable email addresses...
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: Club Membership |
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When did you first hear about the club?
When did you join?
Where did you get the information about joining?
Any ideas about recruiting new members?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 876
Regional Meetings
Important Upcoming Deadlines
JUNE 30
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Exceptional Service Award Nominations are due Saturday, June 30. Send nominations to Julie Rich
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JULY 1
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2002 Auction Consignments due. Send to Nancy Upchurch
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Convention News
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Have you marked your calendars for September 19-22?
What a line-up we've got planned for this year's convention! Interested in getting your hotel reservation taken care of? Call the Nashville Airport Marriott at 615-889-9300 and be certain to mention that you're with the Tea Leaf Club to qualify for the $89 nightly group rate.
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SEEN ON
TEABERRY BALANCED VINE SOAP DISH LID ON WHITE IRONSTONE BASE
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Seller's Description
Lovely small covered dish, ironstone, lid has a bronze colored motif of clover or flower.Lid does go with bottom;however does not fit tightly, there is crazing no cracks.
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ALFRED MEAKIN SCROLL SHAPE WASTE JAR
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Seller's Description
Here is an extremely rare Tea Leaf Copper Lustre Ironstone Master Waste Jar potted by Alfred Meakin in the Scroll pattern. Sometimes this is called a Slop Jar. It was made in the 1870s and thought to be Meakin's earliest Body Style adorned with the Tea Leaf motif. The Scroll pattern is identified by the Copper Lustre decoration found at the finials and handles. The keyhole arch finial is also an identifying feature. Notice the turned down handles. This piece is very large and heavy. The Waste Jar stands 14 ½” tall including the finial. The widest portion is 10” wide and the top rim of the base is 9” in diameter. One of the pictures shows the bottom copper lustre band and I am not sure if this is a sloppy paint job by the decorator when made or a possible repair, other than this the Master Waste Jar is in mint condition with no chips or cracks. There is some light crazing. The inside is brilliant white as well as the dome lid. You don't see this piece of Tea Leaf very often and especially in the condition.
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ALFRED MEAKIN CHELSEA SHAPE BRUSH VASE
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Seller's Description
This toothbrush container is 5 1/2" tall, backstamped Royal Ironstone China Alfred Meakin, England and coat of arms. No chips, cracks or repairs, light fine crazing only. Good copper lustre sheen.
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Correction: Thanks to Bev & Ernie for pointing out to me that I mis-attributed the Teaberry Berry Cluster platter (below) to Clementson. It's probably unmarked and should have been credited to JF (Jacob Furnival, not Clementson. Since our own Nancy purchased this stunning platter perhaps we can find out more when it arrives.
INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
Regarding the Discussion Topic, Carol Chadwick sends...
I can't remember for certain if Gale Fredrick or another member from Michigan, Sherrie (can't remember her last name) told us about the Tea Leaf Club. Whoever it was, thank you!! We immediately completed the registration forms and made plans to attend our first convention in Evansville (1987?). We were hooked, especially Tom. Well, an awful lot has happened over subsequent years, but the friendships remain and continue to grow.
In reference to building our membership, perhaps one of our very industrious, computer-savvy members (Walt?) could develop a list of people bidding on Tea Leaf presented by eBay, bounce it against the membership list, and send a prepared letter/presentation to those who are not members. We could send this via e-mail but I think a hard copy snail-mailed would be more effective. At least we would be capturing the attention of those individuals known to appreciate our beautiful obsession. It seems a good many of our members learned of the club from people already members attending auctions and bidding on Tea Leaf. This is just an electronic extension of that, after all. That's about the only thought I have on the matter.
Hope all had a great holiday weekend. We finally saw something resembling summer here in Minnesota; very welcome, indeed!
Carol Chadwick
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A note from Alma about next weekend's upcoming Mountain Regional...
We are looking forward to our Tea Leaf Regional in Denver with Ann Moldodenziec. June 8th. We have a wonderful small group and always have fun. I hope to take a few pieces of tea leaf to sell. Ann has restored an older brick house to the original and it is charming and delightful to see the finished floors and woodwork but most of all to be with our dear Tea Leaf friends.
Alma Brunner Gerbitz
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Ruth Bull has a question for us all...
Should Tea Leaf or ironstone be put in the dishwasher?
Ruth Bull
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Ann Derner provides a P.S. to her letter from last week...
I left out the rest of Francis Ford's name....Coppala..
Whenever I went to Antique shows, I always heard that the "Tea Leaf Lady" had already been there and purchased all of the Tea Leaf.....then I too saw the club mentioned in "Spinning Wheel" magazine and contacted Julie.......At last, I found out who was always there ahead me....Julie has been a dear friend ever since...
I would like very much to attend this year's convention, as our son Chris lives in Nashville..but as usual our annual Retired FF reunion will be the same weekend, which we host at the 4-H center for over 200 people.
This October, in DC there is going to be a a Special Memorial for all the fallen Firefighters and their families from 2001. Firefighters from around the world are coming....Germany is sending over a plane full, and Scotland is sending their Bagpipe Regiment...This is scheduled to last 4 days....It usually is held in Emmitsburg, MD. which is too small to have it this year.
Ann
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That's it for letters this week.
Please take a few moments this week to send in a contribution to next weekend's issue.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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June 9, 16
July 7, 14, 21, 28
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
May 26, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Our very talented photographer, Valerie Giorgi, provides this patriotic photo using a Tea Leaf open vegetable as the base. Happy Memorial Day to Everybody!
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TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
Welcome back Guy Motsinger & Cookie Berthelot, Metairie, LA
Email address changes...
Undeliverable email addresses...
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: Club Membership |
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When did you first hear about the club?
When did you join?
Where did you get the information about joining?
Any ideas about recruiting new members?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 874
Regional Meetings
Important Upcoming Deadlines
JUNE 30
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Exceptional Service Award Nominations are due Saturday, June 30. Send nominations to Julie Rich
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JULY 1
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2002 Auction Consignments due. Send to Nancy Upchurch
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Convention News
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Have you marked your calendars for September 19-22?
What a line-up we've got planned for this year's convention! Interested in getting your hotel reservation taken care of? Call the Nashville Airport Marriott at 615-889-9300 and be certain to mention that you're with the Tea Leaf Club to qualify for the $89 nightly group rate.
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SEEN ON
CLEMENTSON BERRY CLUSTER TEABERRY PLATTER
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Seller's Description
Here is a GORGEOUS antique IRONSTONE PLATTER with COPPER LUSTER border and a TEABERRY variation of the popular TEA LEAF copper luster decoration in its' center .. made circa mid to late 1800s .. this is a HUGE platter measuring OVER 17" long! .. molded floral relief design impressed on shoulder - I'm not sure of the pattern or maker .. a FABULOUS find offered with NO RESERVE!
EXCELLENT condition with some absorbed staining - see photo below of the backside too - (I've been told this can be bleached out with peroxide) - NO chips, cracks or repairs (a couple small factory popped bubbles) .. copper luster decoration is also EXCELLENT and unworn .. measures 17 3/8" x 13 7/8" x 1 5/8" high .. marked on bottom only with an impressed 'P' and '15" - GUARANTEED old and original Victorian era Ironstone!
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CLEMENTSON AUGUSTA SHAPE TEABERRY PLATTER
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Seller's Description
You are bidding on a hard to find 150+-year-old Teaberry platter. Although unmarked, Clementson is known to be the potter of the very sought after Teaberry (Tea Leaf Variant) pattern. The platter is in the Augusta shape and the Teaberry motif retains bright and shiny lustre but does show some wear from use. The platter is approximately 13” long, and 10” wide. There are no crack, chips or repairs, but there is the usual crazing found on a piece of ironstone of this vintage.
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UNMARKED BOTANICAL CUP PLATE
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Seller's Description
STAFFORDSHIRE BUTTER PAT LOT. Lot of 15, includes a set of 12 transfer square pats, printed in dark purple, with rose bush pattern; PLUS a painted luster Tea Leaf pattern; AND 2 other blue transfer-printed examples. Set perfect others with light stains.
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
Walt and Pat send...
The Warners reported on the North Central Regional last week. We just wanted to add that we had a great time and to thank Charla and Charley. There must be something about Regionals that people like. There were 6 of us who attended the Heartland Regional in early April and 10 who attended the Prairie Regional the week before. Those who came in from Illinois may have just been looking for sunshine. It poured at the Prairie Regional. It sure was a beautiful day in Iowa. Charla must have been baking all week. She made breads for our morning coffee and cakes for afternoon dessert. The meal at Bonaparte's Retreat was special for us since we shared a table with Charlie's mother and out daughter. There was a bit of difference of age between the two of them but there wasn't any difference in great conversation. It was a fun meal. We capped off the day by crossing the Mississippi and seeing the new Mormon temple in Nauvoo. Quite a day that started with the mailbox bombing about 20 miles from the place we spent the night.
After that Regional and the others we have attended we are so glad that we joined the club in 1990 but it wasn't easy. We first learned of the club from a short piece about the Evansville Convention. For some reason there wasn't enough information for us to try to join but we were interested. Next year we tried very hard to get information about the Williams burg Convention. Pat's sister lives there and called around including the Chamber of Commerce. but wasn't able to get any information. Finally somehow, neither of us remembers how, we got an application in time to sign up for the 1990 Convention in Kansas City. We haven't missed a Convention since then. Based on our experience there are collectors out there who want to join club but we need to get in contact with them. Spread the word.
The Stevens
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Bill Smith reports on a purchase and his surprise at finding an American maker...
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GOT THIS THE OTHER DAY THOUGHT IT WAS A J E MAYER PIECE WHEN I BOUGHT IT GOT A SURPRISE WHEN I LOOKED IT UP. MARKED: J M & CO, SAUCER IS 7 1/4" IN DIAMETER
CUP IS 3 3/4" TALL AND 3 7/8" IN DIAMETER, GOLD LUSTER
THE PIECE IS VERY LARGE. IRONSTONE BOOK SAYS THAT THE MAKER IS JOHN MOSES IN TRENTON NJ. I WAS UNAWARE OF THIS MAKER.
BILL SMITH
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Regarding the Edward Clarke piece pictures in last week's TLOL, Julie writes...
Not new, Dale. I took a plate to my first Convention in Rockford. I had never heard of him and neither had anyone else. But later, the vet from Iowa found a piece and I think there have been several since then. In fact, I think I found another one but I cannot remember what it is. Anyway, I wrote about Clarke in Readings long time ago. He also worked with an American potter and used the double shields - English and American. He's mentioned in Barber.
WICA was nice and close to home. Roxann and I commuted. It was great after 1:30pm on Sat. I did put together a nice little 2 page backmarks booklet and I have a few extra if anyone is interested. Please, SASE. I think 2 first class stamps will do it. The presentation was so-so but thanks to all of you who were kind.
Bill Miller's cuspidor looks exactly like the one I bought at the auction in Williamsburg (I think) and later sold to a member in Texas. I'm sure it's still there but it's nice to see two of anything as great as that.
Marie, you are kind. It was a dismal day but Mike, Marie and I trudged through the gardens and they are extensive. They trudged, I rode. No cars allowed but I rode a 2 wheeled chair with Mike being the engineer. Roxann and I had celebrated her birthday there a week before and it was beautiful. I recommend anyone coming this way to make it a point to visit. In Chadds Ford, PA.
Anyway it was wonderful to have TL appreciators visit and it meant the house got a going over before they came. Glad you liked seeing our collections.
As for how I came to find the Club - it was in the old Spinning Wheel magazine. An article on the forming of the Club. I got there 3 weeks too late but it had Bill Durham's address and I wrote and wrote and wrote. When I found out that there was going to be a 2nd Convention and that there was a book being published about TL, I made plans to go to Rockford. Even though I was unemployed at the time and had been.
One of the best things I ever did. TLCI has become a way of life, I have made such wonderful friends and bought such wonderful things, and bought and bought and bought. I even have sold some. And developed a new passion, researching TL especially American.
Julie
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Also mentioning Edward Clarke, Terrell writes...
In the June 22nd auction there is an Edward Clarke cup and saucer (reference Tea Leaf Online notes). While unpacking the Wyand Tea Leaf, we came upon a PLEASANT surprise, a Meakin Scroll Hot Water Pitcher. It was listed on the inventory as a Meakin milk pitcher.
The Reverse Teaberry is in beautiful greens and copper! The offering of Transfer is wonderful! Again, you won't want to miss this auction, it's a "Jim Dandy". See you in Connersville.
Terrell
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Margaret Payne sends...
One of the things I learned as I read TLOL last week is that you should not send a message when you are in a rush and don't have time to proof. So---apologies to Grindlley, whose shape I credited to Furnival. Hope he did
not get too "out of shape".
I have a ton of other ideas for Vignettes and hope we will have at least a hundred--well, maybe a few less than that. You may use BASKETWEAVE with the song "A TISKET A TASKET", BOWKNOT with "BUTTONS AND BOWS" or CHINESE with "CHINATOWN< MY CHINATOWN" or "SLOW BOAT TO CHINA". THE NEW YORK shape would be great with items from the big apple and the song "NEW YORK, NEW YORK". Any of the florals could be used with "WALTZ OF THE FLOWERS" or "A LITTLE FLOWER SHOP AROUND THE CORNER". For creamers, "YOU'RE THE CREAM IN MY COFFEE", the obvious "TEA FOR TWO" for teapots, or a nice collection of cups--maybe handleless--and think of reading tea leaves with "THE GYPSY" or "A GYPSY TOLD ME". Gravy boats do well with "HERE COMES THE NAVY" or "THE PRIDE OF THE WORLD IN THE BRITISH
NAVY". If you have a special interest collection, use some of those pieces and select an appropriate song. And wouldn't SUNBURST look great with smiley faces "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE". Try "AMONG MY SOUVENIRS", "THROUGH THE YEARS", "YOU DECORATED MY LIFE", "MY FUNNY VALENTINE", "HEY, LOOK ME OVER", "MY HAPPINESS", "MY BEST TO YOU","WHO WOULDN'T LOVE YOU" or any theme song to create a tabletop with you favorite pieces and bits of memorabilia that are meaningful to you. The possibilities are endless.
We traveled to Louisville to the Stewart show held there for 4 days on major holidays and might as well have stayed at home. There were several over-priced platters, but nothing else except a gothic shape platter with a
lion and unicorn on the back, the words "ironstone china" and a deep but discolored copper border. Not wishing to come home empty-handed, I did buy the platter--but it was not an exciting find.
Hope many of you are having great holiday week-ends and finding lots of tea leaf. This is a good time to select that special piece (or pieces) for the auction. There will be some great pieces there--I have already seen and
heard about some really exciting ones and hope that each of you will plan to consign an equally exciting one. You know, the auction depends on US--what we consign makes it special or a bust--and I cannot imagine that you will let that happen. We have too many people who have the best interests of TLCI at heart to imagine such a thing. Our real strength lies in the devotion and interest of our members. This is why we continue to
have great Regional meetings, Conventions, and support from our tea leaf family. Aren't we the lucky ones?
Margaret
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From Linda McElwee comes an update on Rebecca's upcoming wedding...
Greetings Tea Leaf Family,
We are 11 weeks away from the wedding and I have been just nuts trying to get all the loose ends together. Rebecca graduated from Grad School week before last and we enjoyed attending that with her. It seems like she just graduated from Kindergarten!! We haven't had time to look for anything but cakes, string quartets, etc. It will be good to wind down afterward. If any of you are coming our way August 10 and want to kick up your heels with us, please let me know and I will add you to the caterer's list. Hope to see you all soon,
Linda
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From Nancy...
With apologies to Debussy's delightful "Afternoon of a Faun", this narrative is entitled "Afternoon of an Auction".
Due to health concerns, I have been cooped up since mid-December. When the doctor finally gave the okay for travel, I was chompin' at the bit to get on the road again. Antique Week-Eastern listed a Thursday auction in an obscure little town in south-central Pennsylvania: 42 pieces of Tea Leaf. Would it be Shaw? Would it be Elsmore-Forster? Or would it all be Powell-Bishop, alot of that shows up in this region. After a couple of calls and some E-mails to the auctioneer, his staff finally got it unpacked. They posted photos on their web site. Immediately, I spotted several pieces of John Edwards Peerless Shape (feather). Hurray! There was something worth going for. We pack quickly and leave Wednesday morning for the trek north. At the preview that evening, I'm disappointed to find that many of the pieces are damaged. The teapot was badly stained and looked like it was covered with untold years of airborne kitchen grease. Ah! No casual collector or general dealer is going to bid on this deplorable looking specimen. I can get it cheap, Cheap, CHEAP!
Wrong! We arrive at the auction in the afternoon, find a couple of chairs and settle in to await the Tea Leaf. Whose sitting directly in front of us? Julie Rich and her dealer-friend Gloria Weatherbee. When the teapot comes up, both Julie and I are furiously bidding. The auctioneer acknowledges the bids. Julie thinks it's hers. I think it's mine. Eventually a third party joins the fray. When both Julie and I run out of steam, the prized teapot goes to the lady in the back. Guess who? Club member Marie Campbell who lives just down the road from the auction house. Oh well, it's all in the TLCI family. I did manage to win the bids for a couple of pieces. You wouldn't believe what I paid for five stained butterpats. But those little feather butterpats are so-o-o-o-0 cute! And I was determined that I wasn't going home from this auction empty-handed.
They say that all things are fair in love and war. The bidding is definitely war; the loves comes afterwards. The unexpected meeting with Tea Leaf members was a real joy. That's what's so great about this club, the members. In my 18 years of membership, I have met so many wonderful people and made so many fast friends. To quote the Master Card ad: Friendship. Priceless.
I should 'fess up that I did get away for two weekends prior to this trip. In late March, we went to our 50th wedding anniversary party arranged by our children. It was held in Charleston, SC. I told our kids that I would be there if they had to wheel me in on a gurney. Fortunately, that wasn't necessary. The other weekend away was in April for the Board meeting in Nashville. There was no time or energy for antiquing on either of these excursions. A week after Nashville, the cardiologist "zapped" my heart back to normal rhythm. Ah, freedom! And that's where this narrative began.
My knee replacement gives me no problems walking. Chairs and stairs: Problem! And now you're up to date on the woes of Nancy U. It hasn't been a very pleasant 2002 so far. But I'm looking forward to better times, particularly at the convention in September.
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I did make one find at a mall on this auction trip: an unmarked sugar bowl. From it's Gothic shape, I think that this is a very early example. The lavish copper lustre might have been an experimental use for a very intricate design. The lid is for a teapot and is badly chipped - but the price was right. I think Dale has a platter with this Chinoiserie design. Anybody else have an example? Is it Tea Leaf? Depends on how you define the term.
I've rambled on long enough.
Remember the auction - the TLCI auction! WE NEED YOUR CONSIGNMENTS. Due date for the consignment form is JULY 1st. Happy Memorial Day everyone.
Nancy Upchurch
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[Nancy, You're right, I am partial to this highly copper-lustred variant. Your sugar bowl lid may have some damage, but my creamer is completely missing its spout! The plates, platters, cups and bowls have a pagoda in the center. I don't know why the hollowware pieces seem to be pagoda-less. DA]
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Riene Wells checks in with...
I don't often find the time to read TLOL, but do enjoy . . . Also, It is a quick way communicate with Tea Leafers, so I love it. Thanks for providing this forum!
Recently purchased a cup and saucer, somewhat of a variant, as the tea leaf bud is a triangle with rounded corners and the 2 leaf sprigs are similar. The mark is a circle "world" with the word "Dresden" on top of the world, "Warranted" in the middle and "China" underneath the world. This is a new mark to me. Any information?
I've enjoyed reading the reminiscences of the charter meeting as well as the "first piece" stories. I attended the first meeting and oh, so young and thin ago! Looking back it is most exciting to have been involved at the
birth of this wonderful club!
My first piece came to me on Christmas, 1964. My youngest son's godparents gave it to me as they knew I liked old things. They'd purchased the bread & butter plate at a flea market just 'cause they liked it. None of us had any idea what it was or what it was called. Just that they liked it. I often wonder if I would have chosen Tea Leaf to collect, however, collecting Tea Leaf was just one of those life experiences that happen. Now, 1477 pieces later . . . . what can I say . . . except, I love Tea Leaf!
I'll look forward to hearing about the "Dresden" Mark. My e-mail is info@eagle-house.com
Thanks in advance.
Riene Wells
Eagle, WI
[I thought I remembered seeing the Dresden mark in the "American Tea Leaf" booklet by Julie Rich, published by the Club in 1992, but in checking my copy I don't see it listed. Julie -- can we count on you for more information? DA]
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Back from an extended journey, Ann Derner sends...
Don and I just got back from out wonderful train trip. We started out in Union Station in DC. took the Amtrak train to NY . We met our son Ethane's future in-laws for a very nice Chinese dinner and then walked 10 blocks back to our hotel...early the next morning , back on the train to Toronto ,late arrival and early start in the morning to catch the VIA Canadian Rail to Vancouver....Still winter in Canada. Canadian Rail cars are refurbished 50's car and are wonderful. Food was exceptional..Warmer weather when we arrived in Jasper and saw the Rocks .....On to Vancouver....We really enjoyed this city and the people....we went on an airbus, over head rail and bus to tour this great city. While we were enjoying breakfast , we saw snow and hail coming down.
Then it was back on to Amtrak on to Seattle....Cool still but nice. We rented a car and drove around to some Antique shops and to Pikes Place, where they throw fish.....quite a place . It is four levels and I found two cup plates and an apple bowl here.....I saw Tea Leaf in several shops on this trip- mostly over priced plates, platters.
We started down the coast to San Francisco , where we met our son and future daughter-in-law. Celebrated Mother's day in a nice Victorian Restaurant on Treasure Island. The next day we went to Francis Ford's Vineyard and toured the grounds and enjoyed some wine tasting. That evening were watching a ball game the Giants....Vs. the Atlanta Braves...there was a 5.2 earthquake which we did not feel it as we were yelling and cheering !!!
We were back on the train the next day for LA and spent one day in LA and the next morning we were on the train to Houston. Unfortunately, there was a train derailment and we had to leave our train and get on a bus and ride it for 12 hours.......from 4:30 PM until 5:30 AM.....not a pleasant experience....we arrived in Houston finally, very tired....our friends from high school and who also stood up for us when we married picked us up and the train station.... For dinner that night we went to their son's restaurant. He serves a "Melburger.....1/3 hamburger, 1 lb. bacon, 1/2 lb. cheese. lettuce, tomato, and roll. This 14" high and you have 2 hours to eat it! There is a whole wall with pictures of people who have eaten it!
Two days later , we went to the rail road station, only to find out the train which was to leave at 11:30 was not going to even be at the station until 4-5: o'clock...Our friends were going to New Orleans too so we rode with them..
New Orleans....did the whole scene, but not very impressed...Spent two days there...had the famous beignets and coffee a lait.....Surprised to have wonderful weather in Houston and New Orleans as we were told it would be hot and humid, but it stayed in the 70's.
Then it was time to start out for the trip home....this was one of Amtrak's nicer trains.......Friend's picked us up at the RR station in DC..... We spent 22 days on this trip and were glad to be home with my two cats, Murphy and Muffin.
Now it is time to plant the garden and mow the lawn.....
Ann Derner
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Ann sent these photos of her holiday dinner setting.
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Also a photo of a unique lustre banded jug with very nice embossing
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That's it for letters this week.
I want to tell you all about a terrific book I purchased at the WICA convention. It's called "Ceramics in America: 2001", a wonderful book for those interested in ceramics research. If your local bookstore or library has a copy, it's definitely worth taking a look.
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From the Dust Jacket:
In July 2001, the Chipstone Foundation of Milwaukee will introduce a new full-color annual publication that examines the role of historical ceramics in the American context. Ceramics in America is an interdisciplinary journal intended for collectors, historical archaeologists, curators, decorative arts students, social historians, and contemporary studio potters. The first issue reflects this diversity. In addition to heavily-illustrated articles by noted American and British ceramic scholars and a private American collector profile, each issue will contain New Discoveries edited by Merry A. Outlaw, Book Reviews and a Checklist of Articles and Books edited by Amy C. Earls, and an Index.
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2001 Contents Summary -
Potsherds and Pragmatism: One Collector's Perspective- Ivor Noel Flume
European Ceramics in the New Workk A Jamestown Perspective -Beverly Straube
Magic, Mythical, Practical, and Sublime: Ceramics in America -Ann Smart Martin
Vessels of the Household Gods: Contexts for Collecting Ceramics in America - Ellen Paul Denker
"The Usual Classes of Useful Articles, "or Staffordshire Ceramics Reconsidered - David Barker
Dots, Dashes, and Squiggles: Early English Slipware Technology -Michelle Erickson and Robert Hunter
Slip Decoration in the Age of Industrialization -Jonathan Rickard and Don Carpentier
How Creamware Got the Blues: Origins of Pearlware - George L. Miller and Robert Hunter
American Queensware: The Louisville Experience, 1829-1837 -J. Garrison and Diana Stradling
Collector Profile -An Adventure with Early English Pottery -Troy D. Chappell
Executive editor
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ROBERT HUNTER was formerly the founding director of the Center for Archaeological Research at The College of William and Mary and served on the curatorial staff at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
"Tremendously exciting, with its groundbreaking articles and reviews by experts from both sides of the Atlantic. Its multidisciplinary scope will appeal to curators, collectors, archaeologists, and potters alike. Ceramics in America aims to set new standards for the publication of historical ceramics."
-David Gaimster, Curator, Department of Medieval and Modern Europe, British Museum
"One need only read the names of the contributors to the first volume to realize that Ceramics in America certainly will be overflowing with facts and concepts critical to those researching the field of ceramics and their most important place in our culture. Thanks to the experience of its editor, this and the volumes to follow will be of the same high caliber as its companion Chipstone Foundation publication, American Furniture."
-John C. Austin, retired Curator of Ceramics and Glass at Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Available from Amazon.com for $38.50.
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Please take a few moments this week to send in a contribution to next weekend's issue.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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June 2, 9, 16, 30
July 7, 14, 21, 28
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
May 18, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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A NEW TEA LEAF POTTER
The discovery of a new Tea Leaf manufacturer is always news and an eBay listing this week provides us with a new discovery. The seller states "You are bidding on a lovely vase or toothbrush holder in the Tea Leaf Ironstone pattern. This piece stands 5 1/4 inches tall and is in good condition with no chips or cracks. There are some water stains and deposits on the interior. This piece is marked on the underside with a shield logo and the words Trademark, Stone China, Edward Clarke, Burslem, England." Kowalsky's Encyclopedia tells us that Edward Clarke potted in Burslem from 1880-1887.
Tea Leaf by Edward Clarke
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TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
--Greetings to Cyndi Jendro, long-time Tea Leaf Club member and new TLOLer
--Welcome new TLOL member Ellen Kirch from Wisconsin
--Hello, too, to Allen & Candy Long from Illinois
--And to John Ormsby, Avoca, NY
--I'm thrilled to welcome this week new members Bill & Sheila VanBuskirk
In your most recent Readings is an article about a new book which Bill has written. Bill is offering discounts on this new publication to Tea Leaf Club members, see Readings for details.
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Late Victorian Flow Blue and Other Ceramic Wares: A Selected History of Potteries and Shapes
by William H. Van Buskirk, 746 color photos, Pages: 272
Flow Blue and other transfer print decorated wares produced from 1880 to 1925 by the potters of England's famous Staffordshire pottery district are illustrated in over 740 color images and line drawings, along with the pottery body shapes and the manufacturers' marks found on these highly sought antiques. A thorough text discusses methods of manufacture, provides histories of some of the major Staffordshire pottery firms (including W. H. Grindley & Co., Johnson Brothers, and Alfred Meakin), defines ceramic wares by type, and includes an extensive bibliography. Current market values are provided in the captions. This is a valuable guide for anyone interested in Late Victorian era British ceramics.
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Email address changes...
Please change your email address for Mark & Janet Attix
Undeliverable email addresses...
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: Club Membership |
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When did you first hear about the club?
When did you join?
Where did you get the information about joining?
Any ideas about recruiting new members?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 869
Regional Meetings
Tea Leaf Readings
Reminder: The deadline for submitting articles for the next Readings is May 21.
SEEN ON
SHAW LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY BATH SET (Sold in separate lots)
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CLEMENTSON BALANCED VINE CREAMER
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Seller's Description
This is a wonderful old piece of white ironstone that was potted by Clementson Brothers. I have heard that Clementson Bros. began manufacturing in 1865 and I am not sure when this one was made. It stands 6-1/2" high. I cannot figure out what this pattern is. It looks like a the type of decoration that was used on the old tea leaf decorations and looks almost like a stylized grapes and leaves but not sure. If anyone knows, I would appreciate the information. It has a couple of tight "Y" shaped lines and also has some staining as shown where the surface of the glazing was penetrated. There is one small chip in the lip that is shown. It seems that they are most likely from age as it appears to be very solid.
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EDWARD WALLEY "SCROLL" JUG
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Seller's Description
You are bidding on a vintage Edward Walley pitcher. This gothic style pitcher is in the hard to find, Walley “Scroll” pattern and was potted sometime between 1845 and 1858. This piece is in excellent condition with bright, shiney copper lustre trim, no chips, and overall crazing, typical for a piece of the vintage. This may be nit picking but the only fault I can find is a very thin 3/4” hairline on the base that is virtually unnoticeable. The pitcher stands approx. 9” tall. This is an excellent piece of early ironstone by a potter who was known for the quality of his products. This pattern is a close cousin to the very collectable Tea Leaf pattern.
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
From Walt Stevens...
In the last issue Dale was too generous in giving me credit for posting the By-laws on our web page. Jim Gaines updated the By-laws and Dale posted them. I was their go-between.
Continuing a synopsis of your Board's meeting. The Board received reports and budget requests from the Chairs of all the Committees. Preparing a budget is always a daunting task, trying to balance the needs of the membership with available resources. Everyone worked hard to reach consensus. The reports were all reviewed, as were recommendations from the Chairs to make your Club more efficient.
A wide range of topics was discussed to make your Club more responsive and effective. Suggestions were heard about using Regionals in the governance of the Club, contacting former members about rejoining
the club, using a buddy program for new members, operation of the tax exempt educational fund, and using the club's web site for added activities.
A report of your Board's meeting will be published in Readings. As always I welcome your comments, questions, and queries. It's easy to contact me just use the “Ask Walt” feature on the web page.
Walt Stevens
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Margaret remarks about the lack of enough letters to create a TLOL last week...
I truly regret being one of those who voted that we not have TLOL by failing for so long to make any contribution. I apologize. Even tho' I had nothing really great to contribute, I could have at least said "Hey--how ya' doin"".
Tea leaf-wise, I found a nice Shaw oval bowl and a Walley plate with only luster in Indy a couple of weeks ago for bargain prices. In TX, Denny has gotten it all--what the poachers did not carry off, but in Tyler I did find a 3 pc tea set in Red Cliff that was perfect and very reasonable--plus we found wonderful hospitality in Tyler--at the Marshes, who put us up in a town full of Azalea Trail visitors, at the Markles, who have a super tea leaf display, and at Ma and Pa Hills' in Bastrop, where we attended the Regional. Our visit to San Antonio and the Miners was a day to be remembered--great historical museum, lunch, tea leaf, and a warm welcome to total strangers. We were great friends when we left!
I have checked my collection of sheet music and see great possibilities for the Vignettes. For example, a child's set could use a theme of "PLAYMATES", "LITTLE THINGS MEAN A LOT", ""PAPER DOLL". Lion's head pieces would look great with a circus theme "WHEN THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN". Think about Furnival Favorite "THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS". I have a wonderful piece of music "ALWAYS TAKE A GIRL NAMED DAISY" --Think of all the things you could use with this. As for Hearts, there are many "DEAR HEART", "HEART OF MY HEART", "IF I GIVE MY HEART TO YOU", to name a few. Then, for any plain piece, "A PICTURE OF SIMPLE LIFE". Mugs would look great with 'THERE IS A TAVERN IN THE TOWN", and you could use any pattern then accessorize it with theme pieces--'ALONG THE NAVAJO TRAIL" for WESTERN, "IN A LITTLE SPANISH TOWN" with Mexican or Spanish accessories, "YOU'RE A REAL SWEETHEART","WHO WOULDN'T LOVE YOU","MY HAPPINESS", "LOVE OF MY LIFE", or paraphrase "I'M LOOKING OVER A 4 (3) LELAF CLOVER" for Walley pre tea leaf.
The Vignettes and the auction are seriously on my mind this week--and will be next week and until the convention, so I hope this will remind you to be selecting a theme for your vignette. More ideas next week and remember, any of my music is available for loan.
Think now of the pieces which YOU will set aside for the auction--if every TLOLer consigned just one or two--or even three pieces, and then came to the auction to see it sell, we would be over the top in all categories. Think
about it!!
Margaret Payne
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Terrell Medd provides an update on the Connersville sale...
Special "THANKS" to Chris for the nice write-up on the upcoming June 22nd Tea Leaf Auction published in the latest readings. Final count is 750 pcs. of Tea Leaf and 60 pcs. of Transfer Ware. The time for the June 22nd auction is 10:00 A.M. Central time. EXAMPLE: When in Michigan and Ohio the time is 11:00, Indiana Central time is 10:00 A.M.
Sale bills are ready so please send your S.A.S.E. to:
Terrell Medd
2807 Highland Dr.
Connersville, IN 47331
As of May 9th we have received only 5 request for sale bills.
Sale will be held rain or shine in our new Civic Park Building which is to open June 9th, 2002. It is equipped with air conditioning and a nice lunch area.
Thanks in advance for your attendance.
Terrell Medd
P.S. I did get a confirmation today that the Woodridge is full. There are two other events in the same week of our auction. The following are some other area motels. Located in the far east end of Richmond, IN are the following: Fairfield Inn 800-228-2800, Motel 6 800-466-8356, Comfort Inn 800-228-5150. There is also a Hampton, no available Phone No. These motels are about 30 miles from Connersville. Located about 22 miles at the Centerville, IN exit off I 70 is a Super 8. It has some older rooms and some newer ones. Phone no. 800-800-8000. Also there is a newer Super 8 in Richmond, IN.
Terrell
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The Warners provide the following report...
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The sun was shining Saturday, May 4, as thirty-four Tea Leafers assembled at the Opera House in Bonaparte, Iowa for the North Central Tea Leaf Regional. Hosted by the Warners, members and friends from North Central, Prairie and Heartland first heard a bit of local history. Several interesting and unusual pieces were shown to the group, including a Hot Water Pitcher and an American Master Waste Jar.
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Following remarks by Club President Wally Stevens, the attendees adjourned for lunch at the Bonaparte Retreat, an old grist mill converted to a restaurant.
After lunch the group made a short drive up the Des Moines river to visit the hamlet of Bentonsport, then back to the Warner's home for dessert and fellowship.
Hosts Charla & Charlie Warner, with their Chinese Shape soup tureen (photo provided by Walt Stevens)--->
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Alma Gerbitz sends...
Greetings from Colorado,
This is a busy time of year so we keep busy with getting the yard in shape and going to the nursery to buy our plants for the patio and yard and then we have only had 1/2 inch of rain so we must water, water, water which is scarce. Then I've had a luncheon for my Piecemakers Quilt Club and this wk. end a Pot Luck for our Lamplighters Sunday School Class. We are retired but have lots of irons in the fire. We are looking forward to our Tea Leaf Luncheon in Denver with Ann Mlododenzic.
Alma Gerbitz
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Anne Miller reports on an unusual Meakin piece...
I found this standard size ewer with the old ho-hum Alfred Meakin backstamp. The handle looks like chain links. Do you know what this is? It is new to me.
Cheers,
Anne
[Anne, The only other Chain Link ewer I've seen has been in Betty & Gene Burger's collection for many, many years. I don't think this body style has made it into the Handbook, but this is now the second example I've seen. Congratulations on picking up a very unusual piece! DA]
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Peggy report some sad news...
Sadly, one of our fellow Kentucky Tea Leaf members, Dr. Thomas Riley, passed away in April. He and his wife, Margaret, and daughter, Susannah Denomme, were at our convention in French Lick last fall.
To Chris, you did it again with the latest issue of Readings! It just gets bigger and better. Fantastic publication!
Peggy Regnaud
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Regarding the Discussion Topic, Calvin J response...
On the subject of learning about the Tea Leaf Club, my introduction came from a publication called "The Antique Press", a local freebie I happened to pick up while visiting an antique shop in Tampa. This particular issue had a half-page article about the annual convention being planned for the Grand Milwaukee Hotel in July 1992. The article featured a nice picture of a J.&E. Mayer syrup pitcher from the collection of Carl Weinbrenner. I wrote for information to the address given in the article, and very promptly received a handwritten letter from Margaret Payne, complete with a membership application and a booklet on American Tea Leaf. Since then I have had the pleasure of attending four of the national conventions and several Florida regionals.
The magazine write-up that got my attention was probably the direct result of a press release from the Club. Here's at least one testimonial to the value of such publicity efforts.
Calvin Johnson
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Also regarding the Discussion Topic, Anne Miller sends...
Jim & I had been collecting tea leaf for many years. When I decided to do the new Sandwich Antiques Market, one of the first people in my booth was Eleanor Washburn. Of course I had tea leaf for sale and she decided I needed to join the club. I had decided that I did NOT need another "club". Month after month she came to see me and chat and buy. The next year we decided to join because we knew that Eleanor (by now a friend), would **start nagging me again. "You really NEED to join," she would say. So we did. You see persistence pays. We immediately came to a convention and instead of a greeting, I got a hug. What other club offers such benefits?
Anne
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Dick Brackin has been quiet lately but sends...
I have a story to tell, as well as a couple of comments after having read this issue of TLOL.
First, the story. At the time that I learned about TLCI, I did not consider myself a collector of anything and certainly did not know much about Tea Leaf. I had bought a few pieces from time to time over the perhaps ten years or so after my mother had given me back my birthday present to her along with Grandma Wenner's Tea Leaf. In fact, I think Dale had already found and given me the open soap slab for a birthday gift (I think he paid $5 for it!) and I know that Suzanne Weaver Kuhl had given me my fishhook sugar bowl Our friend, and now fellow member of TLCI, Carl Zehner learned about this new club focused on Tea Leaf which was about to be
launched. He was living in Knoxville, Tennessee at the time and I think called me when he discovered this bit of news. He encouraged me to go, but I was not really interested in joining anything new (I never have been a
joiner). I am not certain whether he then later told Dale about it or whether I did, but in any event, Dale and I decided to go just to see what it was all about. Our registration was so late that we could not get a reservation in the convention motel, but we were able to get into the one across the street. We were both, I think sort of half-hearted about going, but it was a long weekend out of Athens, Ohio (which be both needed after having opened another academic year). I think that we both had saucer eyes and our mouths dropped nearly to the floor that first afternoon when we saw all that Tea Leaf and discovered that there was more to this than just
Alfred Meakin Fishhook! As a result, Dale and I became charter members. At that time, and for two or three years though, I was the collector and Dale just looked for pieces for me--he was not interested in collecting Tea Leaf!
Then I discovered those seven boxes of "lily-of-the-valley" which he and I bought together for I could not afford that much money by myself. As it turned out, with the exception of one piece which I still have (a Teaberry
handleless cup--the first in that special collection), all those seven boxes were Shaw Chinese (I described it as gaudy) and suddenly Dale became a collector! I remember only a few folks from that first convention--Annise
Heaivilin and Mark Ward of course, for they were the organizers. Pat and David Hanson, Ron Gant, Bill Durham, Tish and Lee, Ruth Young, Betty Jean Brotherson...those are about all the names which I can recall having met at the organizing convention. What a wonderful list of names has been added to that small beginning however, over more than 20 more years! I think that Dale and I are the only two charter members who have never missed a convention. Carl Weinbrenner was right there with us also each year.
I remember having met Juliehoo at the second convention--all she did was "moan" about the fact that she could never be a charter member! :-) That is not really true, but she did let us know of her attendant disappointment.
Also at that second convention Dale and I sat for lunch with a delightful lady from Indiana (whose name I cannot recall--another senior moment) who lives on a farm and raises sheep. That is also the convention at which we
met Ruth Smiley
About the syrup pitcher. I guess that I thought also since it was not a "real" Tea Leaf and likely an American piece, that it would be an easy purchase. Was I ever fooled! I was tempted to keep bidding after I was
out-bid, but it would have done no good--I would not have gone as high as the ultimate price.
I also want to know who that new girl is in the front row of the photo of the Board? Nancy Upchurch? I never realized what a difference in one's appearance a pair of new knees could make. :-) In any event, you are
looking "real good", Nancy. You should become the poster lady for "spare parts" otherwise known as joint prostheses. More than enough ramble...still no Tea Leaf seen on the Pacific rim...
Dick
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From Virginia Beakey, a report and a request...
Haven't written in quite awhile, being fully involved in business trips (boo, hiss) and sadly, the recent loss of my darling 8 year old yellow lab, Dakota. So very sad, but I digress. My very first piece of tea leaf was bought on ebay from Carl Hansen, a Maddock sauce tureen with a mismatched ladle. Later, Carl spotted the correct ladle and I literally "flew" to Delaware to purchase it. I brought it to "rare and unusual" at the 1999 convention and it is now pictured in the handbook. I named the shape "Old Dominion." How lucky can one get for a first purchase?
Carl told me about the club and I think Julie Rich gave me an application. The rest, as they say, is history. I have be able to put together a dinner service for 12 and a complete bath set in Meakin Fishhook, as well as a dinner service for 10 in Shaw's Lily of the Valley, the LOV bath pieces, and my LOV Tea set is finally complete with the addition of two more handleless cups. Still looking for that elusive LOV square covered butter dish (hint, hint). Guess I will now be forced to seriously hunt for any LOV child's pieces that may be out there (hint, hint, hint, hint).
If anyone out there in the NE or east coast would be interested in joining up with me here in NJ or elsewhere for the trip to Nashville this fall, please email swanhollow@xxx.xxx. I can either drive or be a passenger, but don't relish the idea of driving alone. PS: Dale, I finally was able to purchase the Red Cliff candlesticks you featured in last week's TLOL from a fellow club member. I was the high bidder, but did not meet the reserve price. Ahhh, another successful negotiation..........
I will also be attending the WICA convention (just 25 miles from home!) and look forward to seeing many of my tea leaf friends who also "dabble" in the "plain white stuff" (smile).
Ciao, Virginia and the Swanhollow furballs
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Bill Smith reports an antique show discovery...
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SOMETIMES YOU FIND SOMETHING UNUSUAL. FOUND THIS AT AN ANTIQUE SHOW RECENTLY. IT HAS A LITTLE RESTORATION TO THE LOWER LIP OF ONE LION THAT YOU CAN BARELY SEE. IT IS UNMARKED AND I HAVE TRIED LOOKING THROUGH BACK ISSUES OF READINGS AND GTLI TO SEE IF THERE WAS ONE OF THESE IN IT, NO LUCK. THE PEPPER LEAF PATTERN LOOKS LIKE THE EDWARDS STYLE. ANY IDEAS?
BILL SMITH
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Many of us are getting pretty excited about the Nashville convention. Lona writes...
Lets Get Hyped Up For 2002 T/L Convention
Many members out there have worked hard all year so this can be a blast. Come to think about it, members
have been working on this club since 1980. "WE'VE COME A LONG WAY BABY"
This convention can't come soon enough,
It's driving us up the wall.
We wanna, wanna, wanna get there,
Can't you see what this Tea Leaf is doing to us all????
Open house, what a nice evening,
The first timers meeting, so much fun.
The social hours and tours & sales, oh my.
The educational programs, talks & shows, we learn so much,
The speakers are just toooooooo fine.
The lunch & dinners are oh so good,
so much to eat and enjoy.
The business meeting is a must, because it is
for all of us, you see.
The auction, " OH MY GOSH" who will get what.
"GOING GOING GONE".
The talent show, what a hoot.
The Giftique booth, what fun.
The Sunday sales, what a thrill.
Wanna wanna wanna more.
The members meeting each other for the first time
or meeting again, WOW.
We are really one big happy family,
ya start out friends and it turns into more.
It's a 4 day convention, let it all hang out,
Time to be kids & shout shout shout:
Tea Leaf, Tea Leaf, what a ball,
Gota gota gota have it all.
Come to the convention & you will see
just how much fun it can be.
Meet your friends & hug them all,
kick that leg up and yell ehhhhhhh hawwwwww.
Enjoy each moment , cause you'll treasure each one,
Swing your partner, oh what fun.
Do a little two step & grab that bowl
Turn around & do-si-do.
After you do that do-si-do
Get that coffee pot, then do a little stroll.
Do the chicken dance over to that tureen.
Grab it before it is even seen.
Do a little shottish step out that door,
Do a little rain dance & yell (I got to have more).
So now you see just a little of what's in store.
Get those reservations made,
Get them saddle bags filled,
Do a little promenade, on down to
Nashville.
See you there, "partner"
TINKER AND LONA HILL
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It was so much fun to spend time with Mike & Marie at the WICA convention in Delaware. Marie updates us on their post-convention travels...
First of all, it was, as always, a pleasure seeing you at WICA. We enjoyed seeing friends and learning more about ironstone at the convention. While we were there, Michael increased his collection of James Edwards Lily of the Valley in white ironstone. We didn't go on the tours with the group but used this time instead to shop the local stores. While, we didn't see much with any kind of lustre we did happen upon two lustre ware pieces we had to bring home. We bought a beautiful Edward Walley platter and a pitcher of unknown origin. Both pieces were in immaculate condition and had gleaming copper lustre.
We left WICA and had a great week-long vacation in New Jersey & Pennsylvania. We tired of Atlantic City almost immediately but used it as our home base while we scoured the surrounding areas for antiques. It was so much fun wandering antique shop after antique shop in search of treasures. Much of this was uncharted territory for us so we were always eager in our search. We didn't see much with copper lustre and didn't buy any ironstone at all on this part of the trip. However, we did see lots of Blue Ridge at reasonable prices. If we would have been driving we would have brought home a great deal more.
The highlight of our vacation was a wonderful day spent with Julie Rich. While the weather didn't cooperate (it was slightly rainy and cold), it didn't stop us from having a terrific time. First, Julie treated us to greatly appreciated coffee which we drank from Tea Leaf convention mugs. We needed the coffee and relaxation to recuperate from a three hour commute to her house -- boy was traffic horrible going into Philadelphia! After coffee Julie let us drink in her and Roxanne's marvelous collections of white and Tea Leaf ironstone. When you walk into another collector's home all that Tea Leaf just makes you feel welcome and Julie's home was no different. We oohed and aahed our way around the house with mouths agape for several minutes. Once we recovered enough to move, Julie took us to Longwood Gardens. These gardens left to the public by one of the Duponts were just spectacular. All in all, it was a marvelous day!
Re: Giftique. In all of this year's Readings, my email address is incorrectly written. Members contacting me via email should use COMPTONMW@AOL.COM.
Marie W. Compton
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That's it for letters this week.
Seeing friends at the White Ironstone convention in Wilmington Delaware was a treat. The Saturday morning keynote speaker -- Steven Birks -- was definitely a highlight as I have visited his Staffordshire ceramics website frequently. Also very much enjoyed Julie's update on American ironstone potters. The hotel meting rooms were quite dismal and the food was the worst. Next year WICA is heading to St. Louis for their convention.
Please take a few moments this week to send in a contribution to next weekend's Memorial Day issue.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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May 3-4 WICA CONVENTION
May 25
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
April 28, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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My favorite picture of the week from Tinker & Lona...
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...well, don't we all!
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The Board of Directors and officers of the Tea Leaf Club met last weekend in Nashville Tennessee for our mid-year Board meeting. A preliminary report from President Walt follows later in this issue.
Officers & Board Members (from L to R): Maxine Johnson, Dale Abrams,
Nancy Upchurch, Walt Stevens, Fran Miller, John Chrisman, Mae Jean Gilger,
Denny Kear, Julie Rich, Mike Compton, Margaret Payne
Club Website - New Features: Technology Committee member Carl Hansen has made another historical Tea Leaf Educational Supplement available online. This one is a 1990 feature on Sugar Bowls. Thanks to Carl for all his hard work to bring these historical articles from the archives to the internet.
Thanks, too, to Mae Jean Gilger and Walt Stevens for providing our Club By-Laws and Standing Rules in a format that we can publish on the web. If you want to know more about the operation of the Club, here's interesting reading.
Next weekend I'm headed to Delaware for the White Ironstone Club convention. Looking forward to the educational presentations and to seeing all my ironstone friends. No TLOL next week so you've got two weeks to write in about the new discussion topic.
TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
Welcome Katharine Borgesen
Greetings to Shirley VanWechel Frare and Sandra VanWechel Christensen, Pasco WA
Howdy to Steven Leppa of Crystal, MN
And we also welcome this week Jeanette Denton
Email address changes...
Chuck & Judy Diederich report a new email address
Undeliverable email addresses...
Email to the following addresses is being returned as undeliverable : None
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: Club Membership |
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When did you first hear about the club?
When did you join?
Where did you get the information about joining?
Any ideas about recruiting new members?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 863
Regional Meetings
Update Bulletin:
Florida May 4
Mountain June 8
Great Northwest Aug 17
SEEN ON
SHAW SHIELD BRUSH VASE
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Seller's Description
An old Tealeaf Ironstone Brush, Toothbrush Holder or Jar. This Brush Holder was made by Anthony Shaw & Son and reads on the bottom " SEMI-PORCELAIN ANTHONY SHAW & SON ENGLAND " with a crown in the middle with "TRADE MARK" below it. The copper lustre on this piece is wonderful! It is heavily applied around the upper rim and there is a line of copper around the base. There is a lovely copper luster tea leaf on the front and back. This wonderful brush holder measures approximately 4 3/4" high x about 3 1/4" across the middle. There are four raised ridges that form this piece and a narrower top and foot rim. It is in very good condition with no chips, cracks, flakes or loss to the copper luster. There is only slight crazing that is so typical in the old ironstone. This is a beautiful piece of Tea Leaf to round out any collection!
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RED CLIFF CANDLESTICKS
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Seller's Description
THIS IS A PAIR OF TEA LEAF CANDLE STICK 71/2 INCH TALL POTTER IS RED CLIFF BEAUTIFUL LUSTER I SMALL FLAKE AT CORNER BASE.
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BURGESS CHRYSANTHEMUM HOT WATER PITCHER
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Seller's Description
THIS HOT WATER PITCHER IS 63/4 INCH TALL PART OF A CHAMBER SET THE POTTER IS HENRY BURGESS DATED 1886 CHRYSANTHEMUM PATTERN,BEAUTIFUL LUSTER( IT'S SPARKLES)2 AREAS OF VERY MINOR POTTERS FLAWS THAT CONSIST OF PITTING, ROUGHNESS AT BASS 1/2 IN DARK LINE AT NECK.
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
First, a Board Meeting report from Walt...
Last weekend the Officers and Board of your club met in Nashville at the Marriott. Our National Convention will be held here in September. It is an elegant hotel with gardens, a neat swimming pool, and recently re-furbished rooms. I believe all that attend the Convention will be pleased with their rooms and with Nashville. Nashville has many tourist attractions beyond the Grand Old Oprry. Also there are many, many, antiques shops in the surrounding area. Some even have Tea Leaf. While the board met, several of the spouses went antiquing. Reports were received of two great finds; an Edge Malkin hot water pitcher and a pair of Adams salt & pepper shakers. Everyone was green with envy when we heard the prices paid for these items. Come to the Convention you could be just as lucky.
Readings will have a fuller report about the meeting but I can mention a couple of items discussed. As we worked on the budget it is apparent that we need new members. Please, try to recruit new members and be part of the Builder’s Club. To publicize the club and attract new members, Marie Compton, at the Board’s direction, prepared a package for auction on Ebay. The package combined club membership and a copy of the Handbook. (A reserve is in place so that full prices will be paid.) The Board was impressed with the Ebay listing and the results. Ebay seemed to an inexpensive way to reach people. The auction notice was accessed 108 times, albeit by club members as well as non-members. We decided to continue to offer this package as a way of making Tea Leaf collectors aware of the club and attracting new members. Will tell you more in Readings and subsequent TLOLs.
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Walt Stevens
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Valerie and Al Giorgi report on a wildly successful regional...
On April 20th, twenty-one enthusiastic Tea Leafers met in Santa Maria, California for the Golden West Regional. There were nineteen members and 2 guests that traveled from as far as Arizona. Some of the members gathered together Friday night to chit chat and renew old friendships over appetizers. On Saturday everyone gathered together for nut breads and coffee.
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The group first toured the museum of Eddie Capitani to view his collection of railroad locks and lanterns, bottles, soda bottles, whiskey bottles, casino collectibles, etc. After viewing his spectacular collection the group went back to the home of Albert and Valerie Giorgi where David Adams, a professional china restorer gave an informative presentation on repairing china and ironstone. Eileen White gave a very interesting talk on many variants of copper lustre including reverse tea berry, thistle and berry, pomegranate, laurel wreath, pinwheel, pre-tea leaf, cinquefoil, etc. Valerie Giorgi showed ways to use various Tea Leaf pieces in decorating. Some members brought interesting pieces of Tea Leaf to show and discuss. Three members brought Tea Leaf for table sales.
It was a pleasure to have member Janet Larsen Dunbar, who’s Mother helped Annise Heaivilin and is acknowledged in the Tea Leaf Ironstone book, attend the Regional. Janet told how she had to quickly come up with a name for her business and called it Tea Leaf Design.
Lunch was prepared by Jerry Nash, son-in-law, who did a beef bar-b-q and the remaining food with lots of salads, fruit, beans, etc. was prepared by daughter, Linda Nash and all served on wonderful Tea Leaf dishes.
Unfortunately Frenchie Ballance was not with us this year as he passed away on Good Friday, March 29th. We will all miss him and remember the fantastic presentation on cleaning Tea Leaf that he gave at the Tea Leaf Regional held at the Ady house in Glendora.
We enjoyed hosting the Golden West Tea Leaf Regional and showing everyone our collections. It was a wonderful day spent together with all the Tea Leaf members.
Valerie and Albert Giorgi
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Bull Durham recalls his first Tea Leaf piece...
Guess my first piece of Tea Leaf was really Grandma Durham's underplate, bamboo, for a gravy boat. My mother always referred to it as a relish. Bill Galaway and I were taken with Tea Leaf because of it was so simple and yet so beautiful in its simplicity. We were then hooked and this started our collection in about 1966. We collected and collected, mostly A.Meakin and then discovered some really beautiful pieces by A.Shaw. Then a nice child's set was available at a local antiques show that we were doing. It was special in two ways. First it was a complete Mellor and Taylor set, and then the dealer who we bought it from told us that it was from the Simpson Family, as in Ulysses Simpson Grant, of Galena, Illinois. We bought it for the large sum of $l50.00, really more than we took in for this whole antiques show at that time. I started corresponding with the wonderful lady who was supposedly writing a book on this Tea Leaf ironstone. Next thing I knew, this lady was knocking at my door one evening, with her Polaroid Camera and flood lights to photograph many pieces of our collection, including the child's set which is pictured in the Grandma's Tea Leaf Ironstone China book. Yes, you have guessed it by now, the wonderful lady was Annise Doring Heaivilin!! The rest is history as they say. We got together in 1980 for the first organization meeting in Springfield, Illinois, there were about 94 of us and TLCI was born at the Sheraton Hotel, not far from the Holiday Inn East, where many of you attended a later convention.
Signed, Bill Durham, The Home Place Antiques, Belvidere, Illinois
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Lona provides an additional report on their regional meeting...
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These are just a few of the goodies we made for our Tea Leaf Regional handouts and drawings. Had so much fun making them. I am not computer smart, so my sister Sandy made the iron on transfers for the pillows I made. Tinker painter the gourds with the solid color then I painted the T/L's on all the gourds.
The little bears were a hoot, I made aprons and hats for them and put Tea Leaf and a design on the hat and apron in glitter ink. They really turned out so so cute. We made a lot of other things also, once again,my sister Sandy made Tea Leaf magnets for the fridge and they really turned out neat. I made ebay bats so when someone was not doing to good on their bidding they could pick up their ebay bat and hit it against something. I know there was other things we made but my brain is dead right now.
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Decorated Gourd
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Program on the Porch
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Tinker and I want to thank Denny and Connie Kear for the digital pictures they took at the regional we gave and also sent to us, so we were able to send you a few. Enjoy.
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T/L group out by our barber shop (shed ) and the general store (my craft and sewing room)
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New Tea Leafer, one week old! Margaret reports that Chris Weinbrenner's daughter Val has delivered a beautiful baby girl...
Grandma Chris reports on Tuesday--Baby Tiffany arrived at 11:30 pm on Tuesday and weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. She was 19 1/2 " long and has a lot of dark hair. At this point they have not yet seen her eyes, but "she's beautiful".
Things went well and speedily and both Chris and David were with Val throughout. She went for a check-up about 5pm and they sent her to what Chris described as sort of a "birth waiting room" until about 9pm, at which
time they went to the "birthing room". The baby was born a little over 2 hours later and the nurses all said Val should be an inspiration to others who, at 46, think they are too old to have a first child. I think she will come home today and Chris plans to be grandmaing for the next two weeks.
[Congratulations Chris, Val and David! DA]
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What a tale from Laura Butler....
The Northeast had a rare and thankfully mild 30 second earthquake Saturday 4/20. My husband was out of town, and the cat and I were sound asleep (just south of Rochester, NY) at 6:50am when I was awakened by a "pinging" noise that I could not place, and the definite feeling that the bed was shaking. I opened one eye and found the cat sitting at the end of the bed staring at the ceiling fan in the middle of the room, the pull chain was swaying back and forth. I sat straight up, yelled Earthquake! and then Tea Leaf! (I think in that order) and ran down to the dining room to make sure my treasures were not crashing to the floor. They were not. I grabbed the pieces most likely to slide and ran them to the living room and family room, stashing them under the couches. A few minutes later the phone rang, it was Vinnie, in New Jersey, telling me they just had an earthquake. I said I can't talk now, I'm saving the Tea Leaf. He said, it's over! I said, didn't you ever hear of aftershocks! He came home that night and helped me put the TL back. I may never hear the end of it, but we all have our priorities, don't we? Other than under the couch, no TL sightings in this area in a long, long time.
Laura Butler
[L, What a nightmare. So glad to hear that things turned out fine. DA]
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Julie Rich sends...
How wonderful to read all those descriptions of the "first piece" of TL. As I said before, I don't remember the first piece I ever bought. I wish I did. I cannot even remember the first piece of American TL that I bought and all of you know how dedicated I am to that branch of the collecting bug.
I remember when Denny and Connie joined the Club. They were in Scotland and wrote to me to get information. I was truly thrilled to correspond with our first International collectors. How did they get my name and address? They will have to tell me that. I don't remember details, just that we were now really an International Club.
Suzidee, you had me tearing up when you described your dedication to Tea Leaf and the reasons. I remember being so thrilled to find that special piece and how I would proudly carry it home and use it at the next big meal. When I moved to northern New Jersey I could store all my TL in the large dry sink that still sits here next to my computer. I guess I had a few pieces scattered around but that's where all the important plates, cups and saucers, few serving pieces. My mother was still living so she had the larger collection. Connie Barr, I remember you at your first Convention and I can still see you standing at the microphone with your plate in your hand. You did contact me later and I remember using photos of your Tobacco Leaf tiles in your kitchen. Gloria Poertner, Eleanor Washburn and I formed a special friendship at my first Convention, their 2nd in Rockford, IL. I remember standing in line at the lunch buffet and do you know who was in line ahead of us - Dick and Dale.
The beginning of some very special friendships for me were made at that Convention. It's where I was first elected to be Editor of the newsletter and where it received the name "TEA LEAF READINGS". I truly do not remember who suggested it but I think it was someone attending. I don't think I can claim credit for the name but it seemed so apt that I announced that was what our Newsletter would be called. Boy, I can't remember what I ate for breakfast today and I still remember so many special things about TLCI that happened some 20+ years ago. So even if I can't remember my first piece of TL, I remember so many things about my first Convention and the many that have followed. All very wonderful memories.
Julie
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Kathy Valentine asks...
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I have a friend who found an English Burgess potty and lid. It has a regular tea leaf on both the lid and the bottom, but the body has embossing around the handle that she says looks like an aster flower...yes, she does know what lily of the valley embossing looks like but this is not lily of the valley. Is anyone familiar with this body type?
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Our other Burgess pieces do not have embossing.
Kathy Valentine
[K, The photos above are from a lid I've had in my own collection for about 10 years -- hoping to find a base someday. Your friend has a Burgess Chrysanthemum potty which would have been made in both copper and gold lustre versions. See the "As seen on eBay" hot water pitcher above for another example of this hard-to-find body style. DA]
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Tea Leaf museum sighting reported...
My husband and I visited the Milan Historical Museum over the weekend. We found Tea Leaf displayed in two of their buildings. This is two miles south of the Norwalk exit of the Ohio Turnpike, in case anyone has a yen to
go there. Its right down the street from Edison's birthplace. You will find a pitcher on the top shelf of the general store and a place setting in the 1846 Galpin House. Maybe this info is common knowledge, but it was a new discovery for me. I thought I would send it in. Thanks for all you do,
Ellyn Wilkoff
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Ann Derner reports the start of a love affair -- with Tea Leaf...
This is not about my first purchase, however it is about when I first started my love affair with tealeaf...as a very young child I was allowed to dust the Shaw creamer and pitcher that said on our buffet in the dining room of my ancestral home...the large soup tureen was in the middle of the buffet as well....these pieces had belonged to my great grandmother Katherine Fischer...My Mother did not seem to appreciate as much as I did...plates were used on the Pickle crocks in the basement and I used the cup plates as children's dishes....I know have these pieces, but only two of the original cup plates....
This love of china has extended to Hall's silhouette pattern , which I have a large collection and Royal China's Blue Currier and Ives....which I have a complete set, except I have been looking for 8" plates for years.....
I wish I could be at the Nashville Convention this year..as my son Chris lives in Nashville.
Ann Derner
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Carol Chadwick reports a solution to the TLOL printing problem...
I have had the same problem with printing TLOL as others have reported. So, this week after reading the 2 solutions offered (reducing to 70% or a bit larger and/or printing as "landscape") I thought I would see if I
could change the page/print size to less than 100% in "page setup" - I did not get that option either. However, I looked around a bit and found a solution that works for me. Try it as it may work for more of you: Click on "view" on the top toolbar and go to "text size" where you have some options. I changed my text size from medium to small and printed this week's issue - it worked perfectly and it's not too small for me to read easily!!
Good luck to all.
Carol Chadwick
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Kimmey reports a magazine sighting...
Just a quick note: The May 2002 YANKEE Magazine (a New England regional mag.)has Tea Leaf on P. 32, showing a kitchen with old stoves and copper pots, but also Tea Leaf on a top shelf, looks like Sunburst pattern, a tea pot, a couple of sugars and a couple of handleless cups. Always fun to find TL in magazines!!
Kimmey
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Margaret Mitchell asks...
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Can't believe no one mentioned the Tea Leaf Syrup on Ebay #854084349 and watch it rise in price before the April 4th deadline!! A whopping $1,1025.00!! Saw that Dick bid up to $355, but lost out in no time. A beauty and fun to watch. Appreciate the printing format information from Bev and Lona. Will try it and increase my knowledge of this machine.
Sincerely, Margaret
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P.S. What time is the June 22 auction in Connersville, Indiana.? (Make sure it is Indiana time.)
[M, Actually, I didn't mention it because it didn't look all that much like Tea Leaf to me. With its purple decor, I would have categorized it as Mulberry, although the decoration is somewhat reminiscent of American Tea Leaf varieties. The seller stated that "This is a Syrup pitcher with a pewter lid and a patient date of Jan 28, 1878. It is marked Bennett's. It is a ironstone piece and I think it is American because of the patient date, or one of the Staffordshire potters. It has a embossed patern at around the top of vines and flowers, and the hand painted design is Tea Leaf. It had some gilding (or luster) at one time that has worn away. (124yrs old)". Obviously, of course, there were several knowledgeable collectors who did consider it to be close enough to Tea Leaf to warrant a significantly high price. DA]
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Seems like I forgot to include this contribution from Juliehoo from a couple weeks ago, also mentioning the Bennett syrup...
I came down to write my TLOL contribution and just happened to see your e-mail to look at THAT item and now I'm all shook up. I just knew that Bennett had done Tea Leaf and that a piece would someday surface. Of course, the Tea Leaf motif is somewhat far fetched but it's close! I would dearly love to have this piece but I'm not sure I'll be able to compete.
I really wanted to ask you about the Pepper Leaf cake plate on the front of the special article that you and Chris did on Pepper Leaf/Tobacco Leaf. I have the exact same shape but mine is a Tea Leaf by Thomas Elsmore and Co. It's not Senate shape. What shape is this? Mine is almost the same but there are a few differences in the copper lustre trim but not much. I can't make out any embossing but mine has what could be leaves under the side lines going out from the center. So what's the shape.
New subject: Since I had asked if you, Dale, minded my sending your name on to The Incurable Collector (you are, you know) and when I got your approval, I sent an e-mail. I haven't heard anything from them. Have you? Maybe if all of us TLOLers sent in a suggestion that they should feature your Tea Leaf and variant collections, they would make the trip out to Ohio. Of course we have to realize that it will add a few collectors to help escalate the prices and tighten the market, but it may also get us some new members.
Julie
[J, Would love to have The Incurable Collector do a segment on Tea Leaf and appreciate your letter to them. So far...I haven't heard a peep. DA]
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That's it for letters this week.
Hope to see some of you in Delaware next weekend and, if you're staying home, please write!
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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May 3-4 WICA CONVENTION
May 11, 18, 25
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
April 14, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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For those of you who read Tea Leaf OnLine either last Sunday or Monday during the day, you will have noticed that the page layout was dramatically more difficult to read than usual. When I realized there as a problem I republished the pages and the remainder of the week TLOL looked like it normally does -- fairly easy to read but not easy to print. But more on the printing problem later.
The Board of Directors and officers of the Tea Leaf Club will be meeting next weekend in Nashville Tennessee for our mid-year Board meeting. I'm looking forward to seeing all my Tea Leaf friends and being in the Convention hotel for the weekend making plans and working out details. If you have something you'd like us to discuss at the Board meeting, please email President Walt Stevens right away and he'll add your topic to the agenda.
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A number of letters were received this week from folks who don't usually contribute to TLOL and I appreciate their taking the time to write. Since we all have a "first piece of Tea Leaf" story to tell this is an easy Discussion Topic. What's your story?
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TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
Membership Chair Maxine Johnson reports the following new members:
Oriel & John Fox, Middleton, Nova Scotia, Canada
Lynne M Foltz & Karen L. Kaiser, Imlay City, Mi.
Elwyn & Jenelle Fresh, Lee's Summit, Mo.
Elwyn worked at AT&T the same time I did years ago. Elwyn is the son of Dena Fresh who was a very dear friend to Annise. Elwyn & Jenelle came as guests of his daughter Janna Fields to our regional so we signed them up for new membership.
Email address changes...
None
Undeliverable email addresses...
Email to the following addresses is being returned as undeliverable
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: DO YOU REMEMBER? |
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Do you remember the first piece of Tea Leaf you bought? What was it? Do you still own it?
From whom did you buy it?
Did it make you a Tea Leaf collector?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 863
Regional Meetings
SEEN ON
WALLEY NIAGARA SHAPE LUSTRE BAND COFFEEPOT
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Seller's Description
This white English ironstone coffeepot stands a grand 10" tall to the top of the applied pear finial. The trim is copper lustre. This gem has stayed in the same family for generations, probably since it was new in roughly the 1860s. It is fully marked, and the exact dating could be determined from the British registry mark which reads, clockwise, IV over L, 29, I, and K. Other info on the circular impressed stamp are E. Walley/ Niagra shape. No cracks, no chips, no repairs, no crazing. In fact, ironstone of this age usually has tiny dings where the lid sits but this one was so well cared for that it is still MINT. This is a piece to be treasured.
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SHAW CHINESE SHAPE GRAVY BOAT
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Seller's Description
this 8 1/2 by 6" high gravy boat is in good condition except for one 3/4" hairline crack that does go through near handle but not on handle towards back at top. the lustre is in very good cond. the piece is "tea stained" throughout but it is consistent- no out standing dark staining. this px. is not marked but came from one estate with the other shaw pcs. that are incised with the shaw mark that we currently have listed on ebay.
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Pepperleaf Jug
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Seller's Description
You are bidding on a BEAUTIFUL.....EARLY....WHITE IRONSTONE PITCHER....(with the COPPER LUSTRE "PEPPER LEAF" MOTIF)....that is in WONDERFUL CONDITION! The pitcher measures approximately (7 3/8") tall (at its tallest point)! It is not marked on the bottom other than what appears to be an incised "U"??? There is NO discoloration....as well as cracks or repairs! There is however a TINY "nick" (1/8" x 1/8") on the bottom edge of the pitcher! (I have included a photo of this area so that you can see how minute the damage is!) As you can see from the photos provided....THIS IS A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF EARLY IRONSTONE WITH THE PEPPER LEAF MOTIF!
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
The first letter this week cam from HK Dick...
I remember Duane Smith clearly. I believe that he was to but two conventions and I always wondered what happened to him. He was a really nice guy. However, I do not remember Bill Smith. I shall look forward to meeting him in Nashville.
I also remember vividly the first piece(s) of Tea Leaf which I ever bought. It was on a Fourth of July auction which Jody Snyder had in the Scio, Ohio (where I had worked as editor of the weekly newspaper for a couple of years) High School gymnasium in 1970. They were (are) five 9-inch Meakin plates and I bought them on an impulse, all five for $15 (they are mint condition) for my mother for her birthday. I knew that she had her Grandma Wenner's Tea Leaf stashed away somewhere in the house and thought that she would like these. I
had no idea who had made it (Alfred Meakin) nor how many pieces she had (seven)--we were sitting clear in the back row of the gym and all the items were on the stage--Hubert Amos, the auctioneer (Jody's brother),
just said "five Tea Leaf plates" and someone held them up...I could barely see them. I learned many years later that the cups (two) were reputed to have gone with the fishhook shape, so I imagined that all of Grandma's Tea Leaf had been Meakin fishhook. Mama took her seven pieces down from the top back shelf of a little-used cupboard and the plates were exactly the same size as the two which she had of Grandma's. The next day as I was packing my car to return home, there was an extra box which I knew that I had not put with my luggage by the front door. When I asked about it, Mama said "Since you bought those plates, you may as
well have Grandma's pieces also." That is how it all began and until the first convention in Springfield, the only Tea Leaf I had seen was Meakin fishhook except for a bowl and ewer made by Anthony Shaw. I bought it even though I "knew" that it was not "real" Tea Leaf, but the pattern was similar and it was not expensive by today's standards--$60, I think--in Perrysburg, Ohio. My thinking was that even though it obviously was not table ware and was not "real" Tea Leaf, it was a similar pattern and I kind of liked it. I still have the five plates as well as Grandma Wenner's seven pieces, but I sold the bowl and ewer at the first Springfield convention and made enough to purchase my Meakin Chelsea bowl and Ewer (Pat Hanson-Stoolman will never let me forget that
I outbid her!) It was in Springfield that Dale and I were awe struck by the fact that someone other than Alfred Meakin had made "real" Tea Leaf and not only that, he had made it in shapes other than fishhook! How both of our horizons (and tastes) have been broadened since then!
I just returned last evening from Shanghai and this time found the streets with all the antique shops. I found (and purchased) some lovely old things...but alas as expected, nothing which even resembles Tea Leaf!
Enough...Happy Spring and Daylight Savings Time! Now we are just 12 hours ahead of Athens, Ohio!...
Dick
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Carol Chadwick shares a First Piece story...
Hello All!
I do, indeed, remember the first piece of Tea Leaf Tom and I bought. It was a Meakin platter with no redeeming features. Tom's mother loved antiques and often accompanied us to shows and shops; she was a veritable fountain of knowledge which she always shared. Tom and I were at some antique show and I spotted the platter marked $19. I told him, based on what his mother had told me, this was a steal!! So, we bought it (no, I do not still have it, sadly). I guess it was the beginning of our collecting as we began watching for it. At an outdoor show in Michigan, we ran across a dealer with a ton of Tea Leaf in her display - we were overwhelmed! She told us how she had started collecting Tea Leaf with the goal in mind of accumulating enough to set an entire table for 8, 12 or whatever she told us. It seemed like a fun thing to do and we decided we would buy ONE piece at each shop or show having Tea Leaf. Well, we may have bought one piece from that particular dealer, but never again did we stop at ONE piece when given an option!! The rest, as they say, was history!!! We met Gale Fredericks at the Ann Arbor show and he gave us information on the club; we joined! Then, Tom met
Bob Skinner, Gale Fredericks, Jeanette Allard and some other Tea Leafers at an auction and about drove them crazy with questions! He was totally hooked. All the members of more than 3 years know where that led!!
Apparently, Walt and Pat have grabbed all the Tea Leaf in the Twin City area other than plates, platters, ordinary Fishhook and Bamboo pieces as that is all I have seen anywhere around here!!
Hope everyone is well and those in the Midwest area are enjoying a break from the winter snows - finally!!
Carol Chadwick
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Jill Nelson's first Tea Leaf pieces...
I knew my mother collected some old dishes called Tea Leaf and I love scrounging around antique shops and flea markets. I think I was in Red Wing,MN and I saw a nice little plate that had a tea leaf on it. The color was odd ,I thought ,because it was a yellowish shade. But it was in perfect condition and it had two cute little handles. The reason I really liked it was because the backstamp was a Whippet and I have always been partial to sighthounds.I bought the plate for very little money and gave it to my mother.
That was many years ago and now I know what a truly nice piece that was. It is still displayed in their home with other Edge Malkin pieces. To the best of my recollection, that is the first piece of tea leaf that I
bought.
Sincerely,
Jill Nelson
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Jill mentioned the Whippet mark in her email above and it just so happens that the letter from Kay Price that immediately followed included an example of this mark...
I'm Kay Pryce from Raleigh, NC. First let me say how much I have enjoyed learning about Tea Leaf, reading your letters and just thrilled to know that a club exists. I feel as if I already know some of you and I look forward to attending some of the conventions in the future. Hopefully this summer I can go to Burnsville and meet Nancy Upchurch, see her shop and I'm sure her wonderful collection of tea leaf.
My collection of tea leaf started 10 years ago when I purchased a Powell & Bishop coffee pot for my Mother at a flea market. Since then I have found the Powell & Bishop creamer and a few plates. Mom promises to give me her collection someday (all of her pieces are the gold tea leaf)....beautiful! I want it sooooo bad.
I have found two Wedgwood & Co. butter pats, a small desert plate by Clementson Brothers, Hanley in the Teaberry pattern (that I think has been clobbered...the tea leaf looks metal gray instead of copper and a few Alfred Meakin pieces from eBay.
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I also have a beautiful pitcher marked (Trademark ---- E.M. & Co with the letter B below the mark and what looks like a Greyhound dog above the word Trademark). It appears to be part of a pitcher and bowl set. It is cream colored. I would love to find out the age and value of this piece. It has a large chip on the rim and some crazing but other than that, It is so beautiful. Yes, I am hooked on tea leaf....just darned near impossible to find in this area.
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Look forward to hebellsoutharing from some Tea Leaf members.
Kay
[Kay, Your Edge Malkin pieces are very desirable, although the chip will certainly affect the value. DA]
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Carol & Paul Markel write...
My sister had invited us to her regional meeting and I said I would have to have a piece in order to come. I found a platter in Tyler and was in business. I certainly paid too much for it!! I never intended to get so involved but it just keeps on growing. We have gotten a lot of enjoyment from the collecting and the club.
Carol and Paul Markel
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Kim Carr relates...
Some of you folks have already heard this story of my first tea leaf pieces but I love to share it! One day I was visiting a friend whose neighbor who was moving out of state and he told us we could pick through the stuff he was "throwing out". In a paper grocery sack I found a Mellor & Taylor Coffee pot and cream pitcher. So my first pieces of tea leaf I got from someone's trash!
I joined the organization last year and went to convention in French Lick. Had a ball and now my husband has joined and we are looking forward to Nashville!
Kim Carr
Yorktown, Indiana
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Betty Burger also recalls her first Tea Leaf...
We got our first Tea Leaf by inheritance. Gene's grandfather gave what he had to us and his sister. It was about 12 pieces for each of us but among them was the Wedgwood ribbed sugar and creamer we have today.
That started us (about 15 years later) on the Wedgwood ribbed kick. Our first buy was a set of 8 cups and saucers. Gene was working in Indy, just transferred and I was still in Richmond, In. I went by myself to an auction where they had bone dishes, cups & saucers or a covered veg. I had to choose which one thing I would bid on. I chose the cups & saucers. That was in 1972. That was the beginning of tealeafitis. Oh, well, what a wonderful time we've been having collecting our goodies!
Betty Burger
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The Hansens recall...
Yes, We do remember the first piece of wonderful tea leaf we purchased. We still have it and use it.
We were stationed in Pax River, Maryland. Loved to go into antique stores for a Sunday outing. Cheap entertainment at the time. I saw a large platter (turkey size, 18 1/2 ") in a cabinet at the back of the shop. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would burst. What a rush!! I didn't care about the price, I had to have it!!!!! It was the first piece I had seen since my Godmother's collection in Minnesota. She actually got me interested in tea leaf. So we bought it. $30. As we headed up to the counter I noticed this small square piece that the lady had been using as an ash tray. I asked if it was for sale and she sort of hesitated and said "you don't want that, it's chipped". I said "Yes I do, how much?" $3 SOLD!!!! She wrapped it up ashes and all, but I didn't care, I was too excited about both pieces. I couldn't wait to tell my Godmother about our find.
We had used the platter every Thanksgiving until we moved here, It did have an inch crack and when I went to wash it, it cracked more, so now it is taking it's rest, but still has a place of honor on the top shelf of our hutch. The butter pat gets used daily for our tea bags. Still love the piece after all these years. It was 1974 when we found them. 1987 I joined the club after seeing an article in the Montana paper sent by my mother-in-law. 1996 I inherited my Godmother's tea leaf collection, which I treasure deeply. She shared her love of tea leaf with me from the time I was 12. I appreciated all the Christmas Eves being served a light midnight meal on it and a special wedding shower she gave me. No one else really understood how meaningful it was to eat off those special dishes. I was in 7th heaven!!!
The club has really added so much to my/our love of tea leaf. It's not just about the china!!!! It's about the people we have come to know and enjoy!! AND...it's about the HUNT!!! What fun!
Happy tea leafing!
Suzidee
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Connie Barr started her collecting 27 years ago...
My first pieces of Tea Leaf were purchased the year I was an intern, twenty seven years ago, in Rochester, N.Y. I went to the preview of the Public Broadcasting Auction, and loved a set of 8 tea leaf 7" plates, to be sold
with a copper-lustre-banded handleless cup and saucer. I left a bid of $50, and eventually became the proud owner. I think I was attracted to the pattern because of it's simplicity, and because I had seen some pieces in my native Wisconsin. These were the first I actually owned. I've been collecting ever since. I used to go to auctions and flea markets in the Rochester area. I did buy one large lot from an antique store (included a
favorite Meakin bowl and ewer which I have displayed since), and another large lot which my parents saw advertised in a newspaper in Wisconsin. I bought that one sight unseen. I cannot remember when I fell in love with Tobacco Leaf, but it must have been long ago, because we had tiles painted for our kitchen (in the tea leaf and tobacco leaf patterns), and those were installed 15 years ago. The funniest piece in my collection is the one I talked about at the first timers evening at the only convention I have been to: friends found it catching drips in a corner of the basement of the Rochester house they had just bought. I still own all of these pieces!
I've also come full circle, as I have donated a Meakin tea pot back to the Channel 2, PBS auction, here in Boston. (I try to donate a number of items each year) I rarely get out shopping--but love to look at Brimfield (rarely see any there) and shows. The only pieces at a show last weekend were two platters, $150 each.
Connie Barr
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A First Piece becomes a major collection, from Gloria Poertner...
The first piece of Tea Leaf I bought was a covered soap dish with a crack in the lid.My sister then bought me a sugar bowl but it wasn't like the one I remember Great Grandma having. Thus the hunt started and 30 years and 90 sugar bowls later I'm still out looking. We are still in FL and due to some foot surgery will not be back in WI till the end of May. Can not walk so no antiquing for awhile. I find postcards but no Tea Leaf in FL.
The Sugarbowl Lady Gloria
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Connie & Denny check in with...
The Texas Round Top antiques show was held last week and I walked my legs off for two days. Connie was stuck with jury duty so I had to hoof it alone. Bottom line is that there was very, very little Tea Leaf of copper lustre to be found. The first day I came home with a Meakin vertical brush vase and a damaged Grindley Favorite cake plate. The second trip I found a nice Walley Scroll jug, a nice reward for two days of walking. Every thing else was platters and plates or overpriced cups, saucers and coffee pots. Funny how some dealers set up in the same place every show and have the same overpriced piece of Tea Leaf every year. The only time the price changes is when they finally break or chip it and then it becomes an over priced "As-Is" item. Oh well I have to admit, I enjoy the hunt.
As far as our first piece of Tea Leaf is concerned, I am not really sure but I remember finding some Meakin plates that were lustered and was elated at the find. The first covered dish was a Meakin square tureen for $15.00, we still have the plates and tureen. Another early purchase was an auction down the street from us, Connie came home with an excellent Meakin coffee pot for $12.00 and then there was a garage sale where all the dishes were priced at $20-$25 but the cups and saucers were only $5.00 ea. Those were our first cups and saucers.. These were all purchases made before there was a TLCI, so we have had the bug for a long time.
Connie & Denny Kear
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Walt and Pat, who provided our Discussion Topics, answer this one with...
Suggesting the current topic to Dale was a snap but afterwards we wondered what really was the first piece of “Tea Leaf” we purchased. Do place settings of Adam's Micratex count? (These were purchased to use, not to collect). Or is it the first piece of 19th Century Tea Leaf?
With memories being as they are, we are not sure when we first purchased Micratex dishes but we do remember buying a Shaw soup plate. It happened in Saint Louis, Pat's home town, after a tour of the DeMenil
mansion. This is a Greek Revival museum house built in 1848. After the tour we made the obligatory stop at the gift shop. While Pat & her mother dallied among the gift items, Walt zeroed in on a real antique, a Tea Leaf soup plate. Asked the price, the clerk said $40 and pointed out that it was made by Anthony Shaw the original potter of Tea Leaf. Sensing a bargain Walt pounced on buying this one of kind piece of Tea Leaf. We still have this “bargain”. Walt may have thought that he bought the first piece of Tea Leaf made but it wasn't enough to turn us into collectors. It wasn't until we attended the Kansas City Convention in 1990 that we caught the collecting bug. Meeting other club members infected us with a desire to learn more about and to acquire more Tea Leaf.
Believe that the number listed in the March 31 TLOL for the big June auction had a typo. We called for reservations and got a wrong number. The number for the motel in Connersville is 765 825 4800.
See you at your Regional.
The Stevens
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As for that pesky printing problem, Fran asks...
Has anyone got a solution to the question that was purposed a couple of weeks ago, as to how you get TLOL to print completely across the page. I have been having this problem for quite some time, so if anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Fran
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Bev Dieringer provides this advice...
Here's an answer to Arene's letter last week. I also had the same problem printing out TLOL. Sometimes missing a whole word at the end of each line. I found a very simple solution which I think should work for everyone who has this problem. Go to the toolbar in the upper left corner of your desktop while you are in your browser and ready to print. Click on FILE and there should be a PAGE SETUP option. Open that and there should be a box with a % (percentage) which is probably set at 100. Change that to 70, close it and then print TLOL. If that turns out to be too small, go back and make it a larger percentage. 70% works out beautifully for me and the pictures are big enough and probably sharper at that size. I have found that when I go to another site, the printer defaults back to 100% and you don't have to do anything else. Let me know if that solves your problem.
Bev Dieringer
[Folks, I tried this and didn't have the same menu selections as Bev, but this might solve the printing problem for some of our readers. DA]
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Lona learned the following regarding the printing process...
I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH THE PRINTING, MANY WORDS ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE DID NOT GET PRINTED IN MANY OF MY TLOL. SO A FRIEND OF OURS TOLD US TO CLICK LANDSCAPE IN THE PRINTING SETUP. WOWOW, THAT WORKED JUST FINE FOR MANY TLOL.
Lona
[This is a unique solution and should definitely help many of you out when printing TLOL. DA]
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Finally, Terrell provides some updates regarding the June 22 auction...
Some updated info for the June 22nd Connersville Auction.
The correct telephone number for the Woodridge Inn is 765-825-4800. Again, mention Tea Leaf Auction for your special rate.
GOOD NEWS! The auction will be held in our new air-conditioned Civic Center located in our city park next to the armory. The armory is where we held past auctions.
There will be a Teaberry and a Tobacco Leaf Gravy boat, plus a Tobacco Leaf pitcher. Something for everyone in this large and diverse auction.
Terrell
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That's it for letters this week.
Please take a moment this week to send a contribution to the next Tea Leaf OnLine.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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April 27
May 3-4 WICA CONVENTION
May 11, 18, 25
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TEA LEAF ONLINE
April 7, 2002
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue.
Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Who are all these people and what are they doing blocking all those shelves of Tea Leaf?
Read on...
We've got a very easy Discussion Topic but not many replies. PLEASE take a moment this week to write. Who among our readers doesn't have a "first" piece of Tea Leaf???
TEA LEAF ONLINE MEMBER UPDATES
Welcome new members...
Donna Weist, LaPorte, In.
Email address changes...
Margaret Payne is back in Indiana.
Undeliverable email addresses...
Email to the following addresses is being returned as undeliverable
DISCUSSION TOPIC
| DISCUSSION TOPIC: DO YOU REMEMBER? |
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Do you remember the first piece of Tea Leaf you bought? What was it? Do you still own it?
From whom did you buy it?
Did it make you a Tea Leaf collector?
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Have an opinion about this topic? Click below to send your TLOL contribution
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CLUB AND CONVENTION NEWS
Membership
Current Membership Count: 851
Classified Ads
Do you regularly check the Classified Ads in the members-only section of the Club's website? A couple of folks have sent in postings the last couple weeks. This could be a great resource for all of us to buy and sell Tea Leaf! It's available FREE to all current Club members.
Regional Meetings
As far as I know, here is the current correct 2002 schedule.
Region
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2002 Date
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Host
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Location
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Contact Info
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Southcentral
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March 23
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Lona & Tinker Hill
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Bastrop, TX
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Please check your Membership Directory for Host contact information or contact Regional Chair Margaret Payne.
Remember, you are invited to attend ALL Regional Meetings, not just those in your own area. If you're traveling or close to another region, please feel free to RSVP and attend!
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Heartland
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April 6
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Maxine & Gerald Johnson
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Belton, MO
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Golden West
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April 20
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Valerie & Al Giorgi
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Santa Maria, CA
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Prairie
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April 27
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Bill Durham & Bill Galaway and Anne Miller
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Spring Valley, IL
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Southeast
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April 27
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Dot & Rudy Elam
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Tullahoma, TN
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North Central
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May 4
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Charlie & Charla Warner
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Bonaparte, IA
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Hoosier
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June 8
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Bill & Lydia Parrish
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Idaville, IN
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Great Lakes
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June 15
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Thomas & Sara Hummel
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Canal Winchester, OH
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Florida
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??
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John & Sue Chrisman
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Orlando, FL
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New England and Capital Edition
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??
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Connie Barr
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Mountain States
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??
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Ann Mlodozeniec
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Denver, CO
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Great Northwest
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??
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Annise Heaivilin & Marcia Balloun
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Bellingham, WA
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SEEN ON
COCHRAN ARCHED WHEAT COFFEEPOT
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Seller's Description
It weighs a little over 2 1/2 pounds, it's 8 1/2" to the top of the finial that I believe is shaped like an artichoke, it's 9" from the back of the handle to the tip of the spout and the base is 5" in diameter. It is signed with an elaborate signature that has a crest with a lion holding it on one side and a unicorn on the other (please see photo). Above it reads: "Warranted", below in a banner is: "Stone China" and below that: "R. Cochran & Co.". It is trimmed with a lustreware that is intact. If you look at the photo with the handle to your right, you can see where the bottom band of lustre was smeared by the person making it and left their finger print on the edge. There are raised panels around the center with a pattern that looks almost like thumb prints at the top and bottom. The hand painted flowers on the base and lid are intact. There is crazing to the glaze, the lid is a brighter white than the base, there's a tiny hairline (a little less than 1/8") and there is a chip in the lid & one in the spout that can be seen in the close-up photo below. The bright white you see is caused by overhead florescent lighting and not part of the piece.
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DAVIS TEABERRY COFFEEPOT
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Seller's Description
This is an outstanding 9 ¼” teapot in the banded round body style. This was potted in the early to mid 1870s. The decoration tends to be more black than brown. The luster on the lid is mostly gone leaving a green-colored decoration. This is a very collectable and rare piece of ironstone. It has absolutely no chips, cracks, repairs or discoloration. It has only slight crazing that would come with the age of this magnificent tea berry piece.
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PINWHEEL COFFEEPOT
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Seller's Description
BEAUTIFUL EARLY IRONSTONE LUSTRE TEAPOT. IT APPEARS PERFECT, BUT THERE IS A TIGHT CRACK TO BOTTOM, IT DOES NOT GO THROUGH IN ALL PLACES, SEE PHOTO. GRAPE FINIAL. TINY FLEABITE ON TOP OF POT.
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INTRODUCTIONS
No profiles were received this week. If you haven't submitted a profile yet, please think about sending one this week.
LETTERS
Insomniac Juliehoo writes...
Here it is 3:30am (Daylight Savings) and I'm reading last week's TLOL so I can write to this weeks. I just never seem to be able to keep up.
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I've been reading copy for Readings and I was delighted to hear that Bill Smith is back with us. I do remember Dwayne. The funny thing is Dwayne gave me a highly embossed pitcher very much like the one you asked about. It has the same Tea Leaf on it. It's on a very high shelf and since I'm losing inches rapidly, I can't get to it and will have to wait until my tall daughter gets it down for me. It was damaged and it was American and your dad thought I'd enjoy it more than he. And indeed I have. Your pitcher is by John Moses who ran the Glasgow Pottery in Trenton, NJ. His TL was marked "Trilby" and I wish I knew why. I think the lady who called it a "whiskey pitcher" used it for that. I don't think that's what it was intended to be.
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Dwayne was a lovely man and he did a great program. There were a lot of pictures in old Readings and I'll copy them and send them to you. To repay Dwayne for my lovely shelf piece.
I'm trying very hard to remember the first piece of TL I ever bought. I'm certain that it went to my mother but I really cannot remember it. It's all mine now. I've tried hard not to sell any of the original set my mother started so long ago (late 20's or early 30's) but there have been so many additions that it's hard to remember. There were no variants in her collection. Just pure TEA LEAF. And if there is anyone out there who has never heard this - we used TL in the dining room and American [Haviland] in the kitchen. My mother really loved her Tea Leaf. I wish she could see what I've added to it but I think she might be a little overwhelmed.
I'm dubious about Club evaluations. I've e been around for a long time - not a Charter but just 3 months late for that so it was l981 when I joined. Dale and Dick will always beat me on the number of Conventions but I'm just one behind them. I haven't missed one since my first one in Rockford. Anyway, I think you could send an evaluation with a Readings at the beginning of a new year. I think people may take the time to think about it then but you will get a slim number of returns. I wouldn't prestamp envelopes because that would be a waste of the Club's money. What's the percentage of people returning the Convention ones at the end of the Convention? I'd think that we'd have just as good a chance of receiving suggestions by having Walt do an article, outlining what the Club is looking for. There may be some criticisms but I think those are good because it makes us stop and think.
The Club is a great deal different that it was in l981. Board meetings were informal get-togethers where we sat around and discussed - everything! We met at Dale's old apartment, at Bill D and Bill G house in Rockford and other places that I don't remember. It was loose and informal and friendly and we did seem to get some things accomplished. I'm sure it's better now that we have an agenda, formal reports and follow rules and regulations but it was fun then and we did survive. I don't remember formal agendas, etc. And, of course, we didn't have that many members. Not that much money either and Conventions were less impressive but we had good programs and we did learn.
I I did have some other things I wanted to touch on but I think I've taken up too much space already.
Juliehoo!
P.S. Answer to Bill Miller: I have the pitcher that your father gave me and it is not "Trilby" it's Aurora by Wick. It is exactly the same embossing and the only difference is the handle. I'll take a picture and get it to you but not via e-mail. I have no idea how to do that. What a strange coincidence that you should find that pitcher and write about it. I'd like to give you the one that your dad gave me so you have a pair. It has a notch (a good sized one) out of the rim but you can use it as a shelf piece.
Julie
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Maxine and Gerald hosted the Heartland regional meeting whose attendees are pictures above...
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I do believe our Heartland regional was a complete success. (Wally has pictures forthcoming). We had 29 members & 4 guests & 4 last minute cancellations due to uncontrollable circumstances. We recruited 2 new members. Four members were first timers to a regional.
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Maxine
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Gerald
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Our program was an educational Tea Leaf hunt & I feel everyone learned a little more about potters & shapes. Some very interesting pieces & Tea Leaf stories were shared during show & tell. We got a first hand look at the fabulous Wedgwood toothbrush holder recently purchased by Charles & Charla Warner & previously shown on TLOL.
Father Jim White was very kind & donated three items for door prizes he had potted. Needless to say, when the names were drawn, the mug, & two Christmas ornaments were the first to go, then items from the Giftique that were donated by the Club.
Table sales were last on the agenda & there were plenty of treasures offered & sold. Marie brought Giftique items for sale & she sold quite a few. Marie is always working for the Club.
Four out of the five states in our region were represented plus Iowa & Minnesota from North Central & Illinois from the Prairie region. Also we have hosts scheduled for the next three years, soooooo Margaret, we should be on your good side.
G & M
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Questions from Tinker & Lona...
I have a few questions that I need some answers to.
We recently bought a full ribbed Bridgwood coffee pot, creamer and 2 sugar bowls from the Mosleys They are so awesome. Does anyone out there have a picture or could someone take a picture of the full ribbed coffee cups and saucers and send then by email so we can see what they look like?? Would love to find some coffee cups/saucers.
Also, we know that Red Cliff made the covered vegetable dishes and tureens etc. with Tea Leaf. My question is did Adams Empress in the Tea Leaf have the vegetable dishes with lid and tureen, gravy boat, waste bowl etc??? Tinker and I have talked and we know that since the Adams Tea Leaf was made in the 1900's were these extra pieces even made by Adams like Red Cliff did??? We have seen the tea pots, coffee pots, creamer and sugar, pitchers, platters and open serving bowls along with the different size plates and bowls. If they did, does someone have a picture of them they could also send by email???? We would love to see what they look like.
That's it folks till we can think of some more questions to ask you all.
Tinker and Lona
A little later on Lona added...
OK, I did find an Adams soup tureen, ladle and undertray in Grandma's Tea Leaf book. It helps to look, right?????? That tureen looks so little.The ladle looks way too big for that soup tureen. I also found the full ribbed white ironstone cup and saucer in the childs dishes. They were by another company though, no clover on them, but at least I have an idea what they looked like. But I would still like to know what all Adams made in the Tea Leaf....Lona
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From Peggy & Vic...
Glad not all of you are like us as it's been a while since we have contributed to TLOL.
First of all, Dale, in early March we spent two weeks in Florida and went in about 75 of the most out of the way shops in the most out of the way towns and came home without a piece of Tea Leaf. The next time we go to Florida we'll go via Columbus and maybe we'll find a Morning Glory child's set.
We agree with Carol Markel that mailing evaluation forms with the post convention Readings is a good idea, although we understand the committee needs immediate input as planning begins for the next convention. Maybe doing both could remedy the situation by asking those that didn't leave one at the convention to respond.
To Bill & Lydia Parrish, sorry we can't make the Hoosier Regional as that is our Blue & White Convention date. We are hoping to recruit some new Tea Leaf members by introducing a few pieces of Tea Leaf in our room sales. (Yes, one may sell items other than Blue & White at room sales.)
In response to the current TLOL topic, our first piece of Tea Leaf was a Grindley Bamboo Teapot purchased September 1991 at the Burlington, KY show. We still have it and, yes, it did make us collectors.
Enjoy the lovely spring weather.
Peggy & Vic Regnaud
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From Alma Gerbitz...
Hello from Colorado,
Just letting you know Tea Leaf on line works fine here - no problem - just have not found one piece of tea leaf since the convention in French Lick. I am looking forward to our Tea Leaf Regional in June.
Alma B. Gerbitz
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DISCUSSION TOPIC
Several readers responded to the Discussion Topic, the first letter came from Kimmey...
Yes, I do remember the first piece I bought. I already had a wonderful large turkey platter, oval, Shaw, which had been given to me by my mother-in-law. And I used it for family dinners. Then years later, in the 60's, a friend told me she had seen a covered vegetable dish in VT, so I went to see it and bought it, Bullet Shape. Yes, I still have it. And what made me a collector was buying Grandma's Tea Leaf Ironstone, in l982, I think. By that time, I did have a small pile of plates (don't we all!!), but the collecting came when I found out there was a CLUB, and through Readings, I was able to correspond with and buy from members of the club about 20 years ago!! It's been a great trip, but I am not buying much now.
Kimmey
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Lona's first Tea Leaf story...
I'll try and make this a short story about our first pieces not piece of Tea Leaf. I had a few pieces of white ironstone and was very interested in the makers marks on the bottom. We came across Grandma's Tea Leaf book and we bought it just for the marks in it. We had never heard of Tea Leaf at that time until we bought the book.Then later on we found 2 more books about ironstone and the makers marks. I read them until I had the pages in bad shape. Those little copper luster leaves kind of grew on me.One day we was out junking and that one day was the first day since we had bought the books that I forgot to take the books with us. We was about 1 and 1/2 hrs. from the cabin. Anyway, we were out junking and we came across 11 pieces of Tea Leaf. I wanted to buy them so bad but being new at this I wanted to buy the oldest ones. Our books were at home and so we did not buy them. We went home and I read a little more about the potters and I pouted all week. Tinker finally said what do you want to do this next weekend? Well, duh, I said I want to go back to that shop and see if that Tea Leaf was still there. We went and they were and we bought our first eleven pieces of Tea Leaf, plates different sizes and soup bowls, that was March 5th,1999. We have a lot more than that now, eeeeeeeh hawwwwwwww.
L&T
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Vivian Morgan's first piece...
I do remember the first Tea Leaf Items I bought! It was a rainy summer day at an auction near Elizabethtown, KY about 18 years ago. I won the bid for two luncheon plates. They began an interesting search for more Tea Leaf and were the start of a nice collection.
Vivian Morgan
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Ann Derner remembers...
The first piece I purchased was a set - Burgess - Shaving Mug and Toothbrush holder...I purchased in the early 60's in my home town of East Aurora, NY and I do still have them...
Ann Derner
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Sam & Fran reminisce...
Our first piece of Tea Leaf was bought at an auction. It was the bottom to an Alfred Meakin Bamboo butter dish, which was in the bottom of a box of junk. The butter dish was crazed, chipped, cracked and discolored, which, by the way, is still in that condition. It was the ugliest piece of ironstone china I had ever seen. We already had started a collection of white ironstone, as it was used in our family, so we thought why not keep it. I thought who would ever want to collect something of this nature. We still have the piece today. Yes, it did make us Tea Leaf Collectors and are so glad we do, as we have met so many nice people, of whom we have become very good and close friends with.
Sam & Fran
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Margaret Mitchell also remembers...
Hello from Dayton:
Concerning the first piece of Tea Leaf I bought and still have--is a Teaberry sugar bowl without the lid. I bought it at an auction years ago in Germantown, Ohio. Waited all day through the auction and won it for $7.00!! This was after I saw the Tea Leaf section in the Tri State Trader years ago and told my friend about it, because I knew she had a lot of tea leaf inherited from family in Wisconsin.
She subscribed to the group and after seeing the newsletter, I subscribed also. The information was and is today very valuable when learning about this subject. After attending our first regional in Cincinnati, and then attending our first convention in Columbus, Ohio, the Lotz family and Mitchell family were "hooked" on the people and Tea Leaf.
Recently visited our daughter and her family in Atlanta and coincided it with the Scott Antique Show, only to be disappointed that I didn't see one piece of Tea Leaf. Bought a Tulip plate and saw much Staffordshire china but missed seeing the Tea Leaf--not even a plate!! Came home and went to a house sale a few blocks from where we live and bought a Clover Leaf cake plate for $5.00!! So you can run into some luck and you don't have to drive 9 hours to get there.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter or Passover. Valerie's floral display makes me think she could do a program on Tea Leaf and flowers any time.
Sincerely, Margaret
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Nancy remembers...
My first piece of Tea Leaf was a Walley Niagara teapot with Pomegranate motif. It was purchased at the huge Labor Day show in Hillsville, VA many, many years ago. (I think about 1980 or so). I had been collecting white ironstone since I had inherited some family pieces and had purchased Jean's first book. So I recognized the Walley Niagara Shape, but not the motif. The copper lustre looked intriguing so I figured, why not? The price was a whopping $50 but I decided it was worth it! Then Don brought me a Christmas present he had found during a visit to his folks in Florida - my Clementson Prairie Shape Child's Set. (I think he paid something like $125 for it). Was I hooked? You betcha! Annise's book was then available so my Tea Leaf education began. The rest is history.
Nancy Upchurch
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And, finally, from Tinker and Lona...
The other day on CBS we saw something that tickled my funny bone. This lady was in her closet and it was full of hundreds of pairs of shoes. She called herself a shoeoligist. She had a shoe in her hand and was checking it out very carefully. I got tickled and ask Tinker " does that make me a quiltologist because I collect old old quilts and afgans" or I also cannot go into Walmart without going to the school supplies. I have a bad problem of having to have all kinds of pretty writing paper for my letters. I have enough paper to last a person more than a life time. Does that make me a paperologist?
Then Tinker popped up and said "you are a Tea Leaf ologist ". OK, does this make us all Tea Leafologists?
Shawologist? Walleyologist? Davenportologist? Elsmore & Foresterologist? Clementsonologist? Bridgwoodologist? Powell & Bishopologist? Furnivalologist? etc? I decided that I am a "Got to have it all ologist ". Yup, I want any Tea Leaf any shape any potter, I love it all. Some people might call us crazyologist, weirdologist or out of controlologist, but I will say: "We are the best Tea Leaf Club Internationalologist so, are you ready for this:
AdaAlcBakBisBriBurChaCleCocCorkCornDaveDaviEdgEdwElsFarFurGriHugJohLivMadMeaMelMidPan
PowSmiShaWalWedWilOlogistAmeBellAmeCroBroBufBruBurCarCreCroEasFelForGlaGooHarIllKno
MayMcnOnoPotRedScoSebSheSte
TreUspVodWalWheWicologist", GOT THAT????????
Ok, we want you all to tell us what your collectologist name would be.
Tinker & Lona
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That's it for letters this week.
Several of you have written to me about the booklets I had for sale at the last convention. I completely sold out of all three, but ordered another shipment from England which just arrived. If anyone is interested, please send a check and I'll get them to you [Dale Abrams, 960 Bryden Road, Columbus, Ohio 42305].
Booklets from Shire Publications, England
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Now Out of Print, from Antique Publications USA
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THE POTTERIES
32 pages, neat B&W drawings and photos
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CERAMIC BYGONES
40 pgs, color photos
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LUSTREWARE
40 pgs, color photos
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ENGLISH TOY CHINA
240pages, 112 pages of color photos, a couple of Tea Leaf items pictured
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While generations of collectors have studied the wares of the Potteries, the circumstances of their production have often been overlooked. The story of the Potteries deserves better, for no British industry was ever so concentrated, so polluting, and then so transformed. No industrial skyline was ever more memorable than the forest of bottle ovens which for almost two centuries dominated Stoke-on-Trent. This book shows how the Potteries became such a remarkable place and illustrates the traditional skills of the potters.
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How would one recognize an argyll, a trembleuse or a bachelor's set? And how can one identify a pineapple stand, a spoon warmer or a coach pot? Such items were in regular use in daily life in the nineteenth century – and all were made of pottery. In Ceramic Bygones many such intriguing but obsolete items are described and illustrated.
Robert Copeland grew up in the family which had owned the Spode manufactory since 1833. Now retired, he remains a trustee of the Spode Museum Trust.
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This type of pottery or porcelain, with a thin decorative metallic film applied to the glaze, reached its peak of popularity during the first half of the nineteenth century. This book describes the range of lustre-decorated wares produced, detailing the techniques used. Originally published in the Shire Album series, this new edition carries many colour photographs and an updated text.
A set of three Leeds silver resist jugs belonging to his parents made the late Michael Gibson aware of lustreware from a very early age and many years later with his wife Dorothy, he gradually built up a collection and began a serious study of the subject.
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ENGLISH TOY CHINA - by Doris Anderson Lechler, copyright 1989 by Antique Publications. This is a hard-to-find book, limited availability. Contains 266 illustrated full color detailed patterns with descriptive features, other designs, point of origin, measurements, rarity, and price range for each. This is definitely one book you don't want to be without, as one mistake could cost several hundred dollars or more !!!
NEW 5 1/2 x 9" softcover, 240 pages, 112 pages in color. Price values included in the book.
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$4.50 + .50 Postage
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$6.75 + .50 Postage
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$6.00 + .50 Postage
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$20.00 + $2.00 postage (Limited Quantity Available)
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Please take a moment this week to send a contribution to next week's Tea Leaf OnLine.
Dale
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Look for the email "splash" throughout this issue. Whenever you see it, you can click it to send a contribution to Tea Leaf OnLine.
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Publication Schedule
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April 13, 27
May 3-4 WICA CONVENTION
May 11, 18, 25
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