Friday, October 3

Show and Tell Friday

It's time for Show and Tell Friday. If you would like to participate, drop over to Kelli's at There's No Place Like Home.

This week I have a family treasure to show my readers. The bone china covered dish below is 106 years old. It was purchased by my father in the 1970s for my mother. It cost an atrocious amount - $25 to be exact. That was a lot of money in those days and Dad was disabled at the time. He would have had to save for months to buy Mom such an expensive gift.

Notice the beautiful scrolled handles on the dish and the unique handle on the cover. The bottom is kind of scalloped. The dish is white as snow and is in mint condition. Even the roses and gold trim are in pretty much perfect condition. A bit of the gold has faded on the dish handles, but not many things are in such excellent condition when they are 106 years old. You can tell just by looking at it that whoever owned it before mother gave it a lot of TLC. There isn't so much as a nick out of the rim.
Here is a top view. I love the pink roses and will cherish this piece until it is time to hand it to Brandon. When he gets it, he will treasure it. He often asks to see it. He knows that one day it will be his. Why? Because one day when we were at Mom's, he saw it and exclaimed how pretty it was. He asked where she had got it and she told him that his great-grandpa had bought it for her long before he was born. He then asked if it could be his someday and the next time Mom dropped in to see me, she brought it and told me to see that Brandon got it when he set up house on his own.

Now this is a rare piece in my estimation. It was made in England and it is stamped with a green crown stamp that says, "Johnson Bros. England Patented 1902. There is something else there but the stamp has faded a bit and I couldn't make it out even with the magnifying glass.

I wish this dish could talk. I would like to know where it was purchased, who owned it from 1902 to the 1970s when Dad bought it for mother at an auction. Why was it held in such high esteem? Was it used for family dinners on holidays or did it spend much of its life in a china cabinet where the owner could display it proudly for all who came into her home to see? Lots of questions and no answers.

I hope you enjoyed seeing this family treasure. Enjoy your weekend. ~Blessings, Mary~

26 comments:

  1. It's a beautiful piece. It will be great for Brandon to have someday, but the memories that come with it will be even better.

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  2. Oh Mary, what an absolutely gorgeous dish! You truly do have quite the treasure there and how fabulous that there's not even a nick on it. Usually with old dishes like that, there's bound to be a nick here and there. I love the fact that you will be passing it on to Brandon when the time comes:-) xoxo

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  3. What a beautiful piece. It is just so wonderful to have the memory and the history both.

    I so look forward to your show and tell days...I may do it sometime too ;)

    Have a good weekend Mary.

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  4. Mary, the covered dish is absolutely beautiful and what a sweet story behind it!
    Kathy

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  5. Oh there's such a beautiful love story in that treasure, huh? "He would have saved for months..."

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  6. This takes my breath away!! What a gorgeous piece of china!!! Love the 'tell' part too. Of course I always do!

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  7. What a joy it is to have a family treasure. It is very beautiful.

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  8. What a beautiful dish and how special that it is going to be handed down through the generations. I agree, wouldn't it be nice to know the dish's history?

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  9. That is beautiful - I find those sort of items fascinating.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Beautiful! How wonderful of your mom to think ahead like that. Your son will always look forward to his time! I, too, wish things could talk and share their history!

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  11. I absolutely love that dish! Here's the quirky part though, for me, anyway. I have seen a dish or cup/saucer, something or other, in that exact pattern somewhere but can't remember where! I'm thinking there may have been something in that pattern among my aunt's old dishes, maybe in my Grandma's or even possibly at my Great-uncle's house -been a long time, so I can't remember where -but I know I've seen something in that pattern, somewhere lurking within my life and houses I've visited, ya know! I love the pattern -just so pretty.

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  12. Lovely dish and a lovely story!

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  13. Oh, the stories your special dish could tell! It's so pretty and I know you treasure it!
    Hugs,
    Kelli

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  14. Your dish is so fine and lovely. So sweet of your mom to let you save it for him.

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  15. Beatutiful dish-I wish it could talk too! Just think what it has witnessed in all those years.

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  16. What a discerning young man Brandon is to have noticed the beauty of the piece in the first piece! It's absolutely gorgeous! I love the handles and the scallop detail on the bottom. It's amazing that it's in such wonderful condition for being such and old piece!

    Manuela

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  17. That is really a nice piece and the story behind it is priceless. What was the occasion that he bought it for your Mother? I hope you have put a note inside with all the history so Brandon will have this in your handwriting. Peace

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  18. This dish is lovely indeed. It would go beautifully with my SIL’s Chinaware! Thanks also for the Autism info in the previous post. I hope you enjoy your weekend.
    Hugs and blessings,

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  19. I think your brain sounds a lot like mine.I would love to be able to to hear the story of some of our family treasures. Some of them may be valuable and some not....but they are all valuable because they have traveled with our family through the generations.
    I love you soup dish...it is as beautiful as the memories that come with it.

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  20. Beautiful and you should of course hang onto it. I have so many things like this and guess most of it will go to Julie, our oldest daughter. AT least she wants it all...

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  21. That's so pretty, it's good that you're using it too :-)

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  22. That is absoloutely gorgeous! I love the story behind it that your father skimped and saved to get it for his beloved. That is wonderful. It is so pretty and it is neat that you will be passing it down to another generation one day.

    God bless you!

    Sharon

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  23. Hello Mary! I really enjoyed reading about your china piece. I LOVE china anyway, and wow! Such a historical piece to have.

    And what a sweet story of how your grandfather save his money to buy his wife something like that. He sounds like a great guy. :)

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  24. Thank you for sharing a story about your family, and the beautiful dish.

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  25. Oh, if only that beautiful dish could talk! The part of its story that you do know is lovely. How wonderful that your Mom put it in your care for safe-keeping until Brandon is ready to take it. I'm sure he will take great care of it, too!
    Hugs,
    Tina

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