Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya…

Or your grandmama!

These adorable novelty salt and pepper shaker sets were all the rage in the 40s and 50s and could be found in every dime store.  In fact, I have a pair of little birds in my personal collection with the Woolworth tags still attached.  Most were made in Japan and are marked as such on the bottom.

I find these often at estates sales, sometimes by the boxful.   The price range is all over the map, but $5 to $20 a set seems to be average — a real bargain since many were part of displayed collections and are often in unused, mint condition.

The three pairs pictured here, plus nine others, are up for auction right now on ebay.   They sure would look cute on your table!

Fit For a King

I don’t normally bother with china for many reasons — the after-market for it is weak, it is difficult to transport home, time-consuming to ship, etc.   Personally, I love the look and history of  it, but the profit-to-time ratio is usually just not good.

Last week, however, I came across a partial set of china at a local estate auction that was so pretty, I had to have it!   I didn’t know anything about it other than it was really old and in good condition.  So I packed it up, brought it home, started my research.  Here is what I learned…

The set was made by an English company called Dunn Bennett, which was eventually merged into the company we now know as Royal Doulton.   Based on the markings on the bottom,  these pieces can be dated to between 1886 and 1907.  The pattern name is “Coronation”, and it was very likely made in honor the the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902!   Was this on the King’s table?  No.  This type of china was much too common for the King himself, but the upper-crusty British citizens certainly would have displayed it proudly.  This type of ironstone china is called “transferware” — the green portion of the design is applied to the piece as a whole (like a sticker) prior to firing.  After the piece was fired, an artisan hand-painted the gold trim around the transferred design.  Gorgeous!

While this is not a Christmas pattern per se, with its green and gold design I think a piece or two on a Christmas table would look great!   Because  I prefer a shabby-chic mish-mash of all sorts of pretty dishes on my table rather than a matchy-matchy table, and I know most people these days don’t want to be bothered with multiple sets of dishes, I’m selling this set on eBay by the piece.   Buy one or buy them all, either way you’re guaranteed compliments and now you have a fun backstory to go with! 

Pictured above is the round butter dish from the set.  I also have a lovely covered vegetable tureen, an open side dish, a large lot of butter pats and next week. some plates and bowls.  I have a bunch of teacups too but no saucers, so I’m keeping them and making hand-poured beeswax teacup candles to give to my friends and family for Christmas.  Yes, this is a test to see who is reading my blog!  Mention this and maybe you’ll get two!