Christmas Bait

Hooray for The Holidays! The Dreamstress posted about her lovely Christmas Bait (closely related to Pogey Bait), so I thought I’d post about mine as well. Amongst the cuddly flannel PJs, fluffy bathrobe, and fuzzy sox, I received for Christmas some fantastically ‘Duchesque’ items:

The Teacup
Another teacup, yes, but can a girl ever have too many? This teacup and saucer bears the mark “Crownford, Fine Bone China, Made in England.” And to a girl like me, that’s pure pogey gold. So far it’s been a bit difficult to find much about Crownford, except that it hails from Staffordshire (yes, Mr. C, you are correct), and that there’s quite a lot of it for sale across the webiverse, however, the company is no longer in existence – I believe it was acquired. Anybody know any better resources for identifying china?

The Bracelet
This bracelet was a gift from my grandmother-on-my-dad’s-side, who has been a collector of funky things her entire life. Before there were hippies, she was a beatnik, and before there were beatniks, she was a bohemian. There’s no telling where she got this bracelet (having lived in Berkeley much of her life), but we do know that is came from Indochina (it’s stamped). Age? Not a clue, but it’s really flippin’ cool!!

The Book
There are some bound items that make my head spin – books on costume and books on art, specifically a handful of artists that make me salivate and shudder with glee. Primarily, I speak of Alphonse Mucha, who defines like none other the Art Nouveau movement at the turn of the 20th century. Mr. C must’ve seen me twitching when I saw this book at Barnes and Nobles 🙂 It’s got a lot of Mucha’s art and sketches that I haven’t seen, and I must say that as a costumer as well as a rabid art historian, Mucha’s gown and jewelry designs are incredible and inspiring. Thanks Mr. C! xoxo

And now off to the Nevada Museum of Art to drool over Rembrandt etchings and enjoy fine museum cuisine :-).