June Bouquet China

June Bouquet by Duchess

"Fine Bone China Made in England" 

I purchased this June Bouquet tea service for four

in a china shop in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2002

during one of our memorable trips to England.

I have four teacup and saucer trios, an open sugar bowl and milk jug

and the pretty teapot.

(I also purchased an extra carry-on to bring it to the USA.)

I enjoy using the tea set any time, but especially in June each year.

 

Vintage Coalport Trio

This pretty teacup trio is a Coalport

marked "manufactured for F. and C. Osler, London."

I researched the company, and it has a very

interesting and a very long history. 

I purchased this trio in a nice antique shop in 2003 in Burford, a small town

known as the "Gateway to the Cotswolds" located on the River Windrush

in Oxfordshire. 

I hesitated for a long time before purchasing because it was expensive for me,

and it has the 6-inch side plate.  However, that size plate is very typical of vintage 

English bone china teacup trios. 

The price in 2003 was about $80 American, if I recall correctly.

That was far more than the $12.50 I paid at a church sale for another trio.

Today, I enjoyed a cup of Chinese Silver Needle White Tea in this delicate teacup.

I am definitely not a master of china teacup and handle shapes.

This handle is the proper "pinch with two fingers" size.

No looping of fingers through this delicate handle. 

The photo below shows that this is a "footed" teacup.

From my reading, the Osler marking means that is an older teacup.

Tea and Tea Leaf Grades

I recently ordered Fortnum and Mason Darjeeling FTGFOP

from Amazon.  The shipping took a few weeks because it was

shipped from a shop in Mayfair in London.

The tin is very pretty and is a "keeper." 

Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe (FTGFOP) is the leaf grading of this Darjeeling tea. 

Description from the back of the tin:

"The Champagne of teas, harvested from the foothills of the Himalayas,

is one of the highest-grown teas from bushes more than a century old. 

Made from leaf tips of the highest quality, it has a subtle

muscatel taste."

Darjeeling tea is named after the Darjeeling District in India, where it is produced,

and is known as the Champagne of Teas. 

Darjeeling Flush refers to the four different and separate seasons 

for the tea plucking process throughout the year.

The 4 Darjeeling Flushes are: 

First Flush: The First Flush begins from late February to min-April. 

Second Flush: The Second Flush continues from May till June.

Monsoon or Rain Flush: The Flush starts from July and remains till September.

Autumn Flush: This Flush starts from October and remains till November. 

Each Flush has a distinct feature and taste. 

I chose this Darjeeling because of the excellent FTGFOP grade.

Here are the basic grades of tea: 

OP (Orange Pekoe): A whole-leaf black tea.  

FOP (Flowery Orange Pekoe): Long leaves with some tips (pekoes).

GFOP (Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): An FOP with more tips.

TGFOP Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): A GFOP with a whole lot of tips.

FTGFOP (Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe): Traditionally the highest-quality 

grade of black tea.

You can see the floral design in the bottom of the cup through the tea.

This was a very smooth, delicious cup of tea. 

The English teacup trio is Paragon.

Oh, how I wish I had kept records on where and when I purchased

my various teacups, teapots, and trios.  I no longer remember all the details. 

 

Teacup Trio Table

Thank you for the kind comments and support after I "whined" about my 

blogging aka technology woes.

My photos remain to be a challenge to post, but I am determined to 

follow-up my post of April 15 about using teacup trios 

(matching teacup, saucer and side plate) for serving afternoon tea. 

This is my tea table currently set with four different patterns of English vintage teacup trios.  

All are floral patterns with a pink flower included.

The above is Royal Albert "Winsome" pattern.

The next one is a Crown Staffordshire, England Blue Vines and Flowers.

Hammersley and Co. 2991 floral.  I haven't yet located a name of the pattern.

I really like the "bowl shape" of this pretty Minton "Marlow" pattern cup. 

The teapot is Crown Dorset

and the cream and sugar, or open sugar and milk pitcher, are Kent.

I haven't yet located the pattern names. 

I am often asked about where I purchase these. 

I am not collecting as many as I once did, but they have been

purchased during various travels, at antique shops,

consignment sales, thrift shops, and eBay.

My cup and saucer (duo) collecting, for now, has reached my limit.

I still love collecting pretty trios, but I have recently limited my 

collecting trios to those with 8" luncheon plates.  

I have many English trios with the traditional 6" plates which are 

fine for English Cream Tea, but I don't find them 

practical for a three-course "American-style" English Afternoon Tea. 

Most of my trios with 6" plates were purchased in England at

church and town center "tabletop" sales, and various thrift shops.

~

The table above is set with 8" plates. 

I have a small collection of mini cream and sugars, similar to the one above,

but that will be a post (hopefully) for a future date.  

Collecting English Teacup Trios

English Teacup Trios = a matching teacup, saucer, and "side" plate.

Many vintage English "side" plates are just a little larger than the saucer.

I prefer the "side" plate to be the size of a luncheon plate for afternoon tea service.

I've been collecting pretty china teacups and saucers since the 1980's, 

but I became an avid collector of English China after our first trip to England in 1995.

I discovered English Teacup Trios in the dirt-floor bargain basement of a small antique

shop in Chipping Campden, a pretty village/town located in the beautiful Cotswolds. 

I often use a variety of teacup trios patterns at afternoon tea.

The table below is set with four different teacup trio sets, 

a different pattern for each guest, all of a "violet" theme. 

To store the teacup trios, I stack them as shown 

 and store in the bottom of one of my china cabinets.

I have seven china cabinets, and the bottom storage areas are

completely full of various china.  

One of these days I might become brave enough to show photos.

I have been asked how many teacups and teacup trios I have.

I have not counted them on purpose. *LOL*

Tea Cart with Royal Tara

I currently have four vintage tea carts.

Each one has a unique story about how they came to be mine.

I purchased the one in this photo at my favorite consignment store in Lexington.

One was inherited in a house we purchased from an elderly neighbor.

Another was purchased at an auction of a long-time employee of Glenn's company, 

and the first very old one is from eBay.

I change the decorations every month on this one. The others are used

more for display on top and storage on the bottom.

This vintage china collection is Royal Tara was made in Ireland.

The two-cup teapot in the front is my only "modern" Royal Tara piece, 

purchased on our 2015 trip to Ireland.

Notice the dessert plates, under the cup and saucers, are the small style. 

Note: a year ago today, on my birthday, our governor declared a state of 

emergency for Kentucky due to Covid 19.  

Who would have thought at the time what that would entail? 

What a year!  Praise the Lord, we believe we are beginning to see 

the light at the end of the tunnel.

Glenn, Melissa, Tim and I have had our first vaccine according to KY guidelines.

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with those 

who have lost friends and family because of this terrible virus.

 

 

Shamrock China on the Tea Table

My tea table is set for March with a few of my shamrock patterned

English Bone China teacup trios and decorations.

I learned years ago in an antique shop in Chipping Campden, England a 

teacup trio is a teacup, saucer, and a dessert plate. 

The dessert plates in England are often very small, just a bit larger than the saucer.

I prefer the 8.5 inch luncheon plate for serving afternoon tea.

On the table, in the front of this photo is a vintage Ansley, Est. 1775.

The small cream and sugar are the same Ansley pattern.

This one is a Royal Patrician and the teapot matches.

This teacup trio is Royal Albert Shamrock. 

This teacup trio is a Regency. 

The napkins are by Longaberger from years ago. 

This tea table will be changed to my Belleek china purchased in Ireland

for a virtual St. Patrick's Day tea with local friends.

 

When To Stop Collecting Shamrocks?

 How much is enough? 

A few years ago, I began collecting various shamrock patterned 

teacups, plates, teapots and anything tea-related

to use during March, my birth month.

Yesterday, I added this Crown Staffordshire teacup trio from Ebay to my collection.

I am beginning to think I might have enough shamrocks,

but then, "never say never".