Monday, October 8, 2018

Vintage Tea Treasures: A Happy Customer

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Hi friends! It's such an enjoyable experience when a customer shares with me their excitement upon receiving the special teaware items they've purchased from my Etsy shop Vintage Tea Treasures.

A few weeks ago Patricia in Nebraska ordered four antique W.T. Copeland & Sons 'Abbey Ruins' transferware teacup and saucer sets. Upon opening her package, Patricia stated "I received the transferware cups and saucers today! I'm very pleased with them, and they were packed so carefully. They felt like a gift."

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In a prior conversation Patricia mentioned that she owned a few W.T. Copeland plates, and a platter, all in the Abbey Ruins pattern. I let Patricia know that I would love it if she shared a photo of her collection with me and she was kind enough to send two images - one of her Vintage Tea Treasures order (above) and one of her W.T. Copeland plates which includes two plates in what I think is called the 'Rome' pattern, also by W.T. Copeland:

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Isn't this a lovely wall display?! I love Patricia's choice of a monochromatic color scheme. It feels very old world, contemplative and historic.

The Abbey Ruins pattern is also called Ruins or Melrose. It's a highly detailed pattern and it is delightful to sit and study the separate and distinct intricate motifs that make up the pattern. For example, the tea set features two architecturally different abbeys. A large, close up view of an abbey is featured on the front and back of each teacup, and a smaller, more distant view of another style of abbey is in the middle of each saucer.

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Then, distinct from the abbeys, each teacup has a lovely oak leaf and acorn border on the top of the inside rim and the same border appears on the outer rim of the saucers.

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The backstamp indicates the date of manufacture to be between 1867 and 1890.

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William Taylor Copeland (1797-1868) was a successor, along with his business partner Thomas Garrett, to the famous Josiah Spode pottery manufacturer which operated in the Stoke-upon-Trent district in the United Kingdom from 1770-1833. His father William Copeland was business partners with Josiah Spode.

William Taylor and Thomas Garrett made pottery under the name Copeland and Garrett from 1833 until 1847. When Garrett retired the company then became known as W.T. Copeland, then W.T. Copeland and Sons after 1867 when William Taylor's four sons joined the company.

W.T. Copeland and Sons continued production until 1970 when the company reverted to the old name of Spode. There were various ownerships over the years. Spode managed to stay in business until it closed in 2009 but was then purchased by Portmeirion. Amazingly, Spode is still being made today.

And here we are, over one hundred years later, appreciating the timeless quality, beauty and impeccable detail of a few incredibly interesting W.T. Copeland tea ware sets. Thank you Patricia, for your purchase, and for sharing images of your Copeland collection with me and allowing me to share them here on the blog.

And thank you to all my customers. It gives me great joy to offer to you quality Vintage Tea Treasures from a bygone era and to learn about and share your collecting stories.
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