Love is patient, love is kind, It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-7
Today we have a sparkling cover of frost with bright sunshine in a blue sky. The salt trucks were out on the motorways last night and I was pleased that I had brought the lemon verbena into a sheltered growing area.
And what was the find? My mother- in- law, Dorothy when she was about 70, the age I am now, carefully placed some china in her/ our cabinet. The cabinet her father had, had made from an old table to fit snuggly on a very old writing desk. I was busy with two growing boys, teaching etc. I thanked her and said how beautiful they looked and over the years have only moved them five or six times including today.
Much to my surprise when I looked at the four pieces to photograph them there was a mark on one of them. It reads:
Rochingham Works Brameld, Manufacturer to the king. It then features a griffin mark in puce.
Then this is what I found out:
The Rockingham Works pottery in Swinton, Yorkshire operated by the Brameld family earned the title ‘ Manufacturer to the King’ after receiving a prestigious royal commission from King William IV in 1830. All pieces are from this period 1831- 1842 because that is how long the company lasted. The order from the king of 200 porcelain desert pieces contributed to the eventual ruin and closure of the company. King William IV (1765 – 1837) died before it was completed and it was used instead by Queen Victoria.
The original pieces made for the king can be seen in the Victoria and Albert museum London and at ‘The history of the Swinton Pottery works’ in Yorkshire where you can visit and see surviving collections.
So what about my one piece with that special mark. It is probably worth £50 but far more valuable to me is the story. My mother-in- law Dorothy and her mother Maude Ward, both Yorkshire ladies had this piece and now me a foreigner married to a Yorkshire man have looked after it. It is beautiful!
When I found all this out I quickly took the vegetation out!
It is now drying to make potpouri. Each leaf has a fine smell: lavendar, cotton lavendar, Rosemary, lemon verbena and curry plant. These were all picked before the frost.
Ancient and now more carefully ‘ignored’. A sad story of how ‘more’ and prestige can destroy a fine company.
Take care,
Sandy 🙂
What an interesting history. And an aromatic combination for your potpourri. I can almost smell it from here 😄
Thank you. It is easy to ignore what is ‘under ones nose.’
Seniority brings wisdom and how we change over over lives to look at things and appreciate them more 👏 Interesting family history too
Yes, you are so right! I’m glad I did take care when they were moved.Thank you for being here over the years for me. Xx