Plum Blossom Decor: An Instagram Flash Sale

Friends, if you love decorating your space in the chinoiserie style I'd like to invite you to a Plum Blossom Decor Instagram flash sale this Friday, September 2nd at 5:30pm Pacific Time.

In this 'Five on Friday' flash sale, I'll be offering a Nora Fenton Design display plate, an Oriental Cross Stitch book, a blue cabbage-ware child's tea set, a Japanese Imari teapot and a pair of Chinese shelf sitters.

So come join me on Friday! There will be detailed photos, full descriptions and prices. If you've never made a Paypal purchase this way before, these instructions will help facilitate a smooth shopping experience.

Thanks for looking and I hope you'll join me this Friday!

Blue & White Italian Staffordshire Style Dogs

Hello friends! One of my favorite things to collect these days is ceramic mantle dogs. They are commonly referred to as Staffordshire dogs or Staffordshire style dogs because the original dogs were made in Staffordshire England by a variety of the English potters as early as the 17th century. Production of these quirky creatures continued into the 19th and mid-20th centuries.

The most common type of dog made was the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Greyhounds, poodles, dalmations and pugs were also produced. No matter the animal type, many mantles have been graced with pairs of these adorable animals.

According to Gloria from Willow Road Interiors, this pair of blue and white Staffordshire style dogs were made in Italy. I purchased them from her Instagram shop. They are not antiques but rather a later reproduction - hence Staffordshire 'style'. I love the hand painted blue floral design and who can resist those blue eyes?

Friends, meet Polly and Suki. Each is about 7" tall and 6" wide at the base. I had fun styling them in my bedroom on top of my antique chest of drawers, along with a blue 'hidden butterfly' patterned Chinese melon jar, some vintage books and a vintage bird trinket box made in Japan.

The pair are unpainted on the back side and have a large 'casting hole' on the bottom. The casting hole comes from the slip mold process - clay and water are mixed to a creamy consistency, then poured into a two-part plaster mold. The slip water is absorbed by the plaster mold, leaving a clay shell next to the mold. The excess water is poured out, the mold is opened and the clay shell removed.

I can't say for sure what breed of dog this pair represents, but I think they are adorable and I hope you enjoyed seeing them. Now if I could just figure out which one is Polly and which one is Suki...

As always, thanks for looking and bye for now!

Vintage Finds: Chinoiserie Figurine Lamp

Hello friends! Have you ever had some small task or idea rattle around in your brain for years before it ever sees the light of day? Of course you have! Today's post is all about just such an event. Way back in 2016 I published a 'Vintage Finds' segment entitled Vintage Finds: Tickled Pink on this blog. I shared three charity shop finds, one of which was this Asian lady figurine that appeared to be a lamp base.

It is hollow ceramic and has an open bottom as well as openings on the top of her head and in the back, just above the base.

I don't know if it ever was a lamp in the past. When I found it at the thrift store it did not have any hardware attached to it. After I purchased it and wrote the blog post I placed it on a bookshelf. I remember some time after that Jimmy and I were shopping at one of the big box home stores and I saw a packaged lamp kit. While it seemed to be the right size it had parts I knew I didn't need so I passed on it and Jimmy suggested I take the lamp to a lighting store. Six years later I did just that!

The helpful staff at Brighter Homes Lighting Gallery had the parts in stock and assembled the lamp while I waited. It has taken years, but this small Asian lady figurine has finally become a cute accent lamp!

A great feature of this lamp is the dynamic posture of the figure. Her legs are front facing, yet her torso is slightly turned to her left. Her left hand grips her garment and in her right hand she holds a fan. With her fancy clothing and headpiece I'm sure she will begin to dance at any moment!

There are no markings or labels but I have no doubt that we're looking at a mid century piece. The colors are quintessentially 1950s and Oriental themed home decor was quite a big influence back then. There is some glaze crazing but overall it's in excellent vintage condition - no chips or repairs.

 

For my vignette here, I styled my new lamp with a vintage Japanese runner duck that Jimmy once gifted me and a mid century Haeger planter into which I planted a couple of mini ferns from Trader Joe's.

 

Oh, and the lamp shade is a white 6.75" (height) silk/shantung bell shape clip on from Wayfair although when I purchased mine several weeks ago it was $35.99 with free shipping.

Thanks for looking and bye for now...

Plum Blossom Decor: An Etsy Shop Update

Hello friends, I haven't written about my Etsy shop Plum Blossom Decor for a long time. The shop is in the process of being revised because my interest in all things chinoiserie has overtaken my love of vintage tea ware. There was a hiccup in renaming the shop and there are still a few things to fix but I am anxious and motivated to complete the transition.

I still adore old teacup sets (and 'pretty vintage' things) and will continue to offer them in my shop but over time I will be focusing more on vintage Chinese and Japanese home decor items, as well as vintage English items featuring the chinoiserie themes. There will also be a few choice Mid Century items as well.

In fact, today I'm sharing five new items (above) that have just been listed: Three Famille Rose pieces: a large statement vase (center), a large tea jar or ginger jar (left rear), a 'fishbowl' planter (left front) and two Rose Medallion items - a small wall plate (right, rear) and a teacup and saucer set (right front).

Famille Rose and Rose Medallion home decor items are considered a quintessential part of the chinoiserie home fashion look. Famille Rose, with its 'court' or 'salon' scenes typically depict people in a formal setting carrying out traditional duties. Rose Medallion items do not feature people, but rather are portraits of the natural world. The 'rose' referred to is actually a peony. Both Famille Rose and Rose Medallion share common painted background characteristics of peonies, moths, birds, pomegranates, gold highlights and lots and lots of 'fill-in' florals and greenery. Pinks and greens are the traditional colors, but there is some variation.

At 14-1/4" in height this vase can certainly be considered a statement piece. It has beautiful bright colors and portrayals of courtly behavior within a cartouche-like frame on both the front and back of the piece. There are birds, moths, pomegranates and florals with gold highlights filling in all the spaces.

This lidded tea jar or ginger jar also depicts a court or salon scene. It is 10-3/4" in height and 6" in diameter. It has florals, moths, greenery and gold highlights. A perfect shelf styling accessory!

One of the more fun items in the Famille Rose family of items I'm offering is this small (5" in height) 'fishbowl' planter. While it has the traditional salon or court scene attributes on both the front and the back (as well as two bird panels), it has a surprise element. Unlike most house plant containers, this one has a finished interior which renders it just as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. Keep scrolling and you'll see what I'm referring to...

Don't you just love those fish? They are both realistic and stylistic at the same time!

And lastly, the Rose Medallion wall plate and teacup and saucer set. The wall plate is 6" in diameter, and has four panels that contain the traditional rose and greenery elements. There is a lovely scalloped border with gold highlight and it has two holes in the back which make adding to your plate wall super easy!

The tea set has the same cartouche-like panels, with birds the central theme here. There are also the roses, peonies, moths, and an abundance of greenery as well as gold rims and gold embellishing in all the spaces within the greenery.

As mentioned at the beginning, all items featured in this blog post are available in my Etsy shop Plum Blossom Decor. All are in excellent vintage condition with no chips, cracks, glaze crazing or repairs. Each piece has been carefully cleaned and inspected. As always, my goal is to offer the best quality vintage chinoiserie, oriental and asian style home decor items for your enjoyment. So if you love this kind of timeless home decor, visit my shop! For more details, including video clips and prices, visit Plum Blossom Decor and enjoy a ten percent discount with the code PlumBlossom10!

Thanks for looking!

Introducing Plum Blossom Vintage: Chinoiserie, The Orient, Midcentury

Hello Friends! Well it's been almost one year since the corona virus struck the United States and our lives fell into a tail spin. But now that there is a vaccine and a new president in the White House, I'm feeling hopeful about the future. I hope you are as well.

I'm excited to share some news with you! I'm starting a new shop! Plum Blossom Vintage will offer inspiring vintage chinoiserie, oriental and midcentury homewares for anyone looking to add some asian or midcentury (or both!) inspired flair to their home decor.

I'm still selling vintage tea ware in my Etsy shop Vintage Tea Treasures. This new endeavor will be on Instagram. I'll be utilizing my Vintage Tea Treasures Instagram account where the name has been changed to Plum Blossom Vintage. Shown above is a sneak peek of the first collection for Plum Blossom Vintage. It is almost ready for a flash sale which will be happening very soon and I will announce it here. 

So wish me luck and I hope you will join me for the sale!

DIY: Painted Mini Halloween Pumpkins & a Día de Los Muertos Skull Banner

Hello and Happy Halloween friends!

This is indeed the strangest Halloween ever. Our city is heavily discouraging trick-or-treating, gatherings, corn mazes - all the traditional group activities. So I'm guessing there are many parents out there coming up with ideas for new ways to celebrate Halloween that don't include getting sick with the coronavirus. I'll bet pumpkin painting is on the list!

For this easy-peasy project, I bought three different kinds of ornamental pumpkins in three sizes and decorated each type the same.

For the large white pumpkins, I chose black and orange paint and black and orange decorative ribbons. To make the stars, I traced around two different sized chipboard stars with a Sharpie marker, then painted them in with black tempera paint. The plaid and polka dots were painted free hand.

For the small white pumpkins, I chose gold paint, gold wire 'vines' and velvety autumn colored leaves. Hint: to make the wire vines I wrapped the wire around a pencil, then slipped it over the stem.

And for the little orange pumpkins I painted the stems gold and then used my favorite white Gelly Roll pen for the embellishing.

I made the Día de Los Muertos banner a few years ago and I still love it. I simply drew one skull to use as a template and cut five out of white cardstock, drew in the facial features, and gave each a floral head piece. I then mounted them on the banners which are hand cut from a sheet of 12 x 12 Bo Bunny scrapbook paper, which I embossed with gold embossing powder around the outside edges.

And last but not least, in order to give my vignette above an extra wow factor, I filled my little plaster 'boo pumpkin' with seasonal mums. This is my only vintage Halloween decoration and I am crazy about it. I love that facial expression!

Thank you for looking and have a safe and fun Halloween (insert blood curdling scream here)!

Flattening the Curve, Day 45

Hello lovlies! Today is the forty-fifth day that I have been on mandated leave from my government work site due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

With Mother's Day just around the corner, this is a little reminder that there are many nice vintage tea ware items in my Etsy shop Vintage Tea Treasures that are perfect gifts for your tea loving mother, grandmother, or perhaps mother-in-law.

For example, above is a Royal Vale Mother teacup and saucer set that features a lovely scripted 'Mother' in gold on the front of the teacup. There are pink, yellow and purple flowers with greenery on the front and back of the teacup and also on the saucer. There is gold gilding on the inside rim, upper rim, foot and handle of the teacup and on the perimeter of the saucer.

This violets vintage teacup and saucer set, above, is a Tuscan brand and has a 'Mother' scripted on the inside of the teacup near the top rim. There are lots of pretty lavender and purple violets with greenery on the front and back of the teacup and on the saucer, with gold gilding on the top rim, handle and foot of the teacup and around the perimeter of the saucer.

There are also some 'vintage gifts' in my shop and this pair of Ucago Ceramics branded pedestal candlestick holders is a fine example. Green seashells are the candlestick holders and each is embellished with a green parakeet and a smaller green seashell. Each half shell is mounted on a pedestal stand, or base, and is decorated with realistic barnacles. Lovely gold embellishment throughout.

And lastly, for anyone shopping for a month of May birthday gift, this beautiful Tuscan brand 'Birthday Flowers' teacup and saucer set featuring May's Lily of the Valley is perfect!

  

The set has a pedestal egg-like cup shape decorated with a medium sized bouquet of Lily of the Valley on the front of the teacup, a smaller bouquet on the back, and a sprig on the inside of the teacup. The same floral pattern is repeated on the slightly scalloped saucer and there is gold gilding on the foot, top rim and handle of the teacup and around the perimeter of the saucer.

Just click the link on any of the above descriptions and you'll find more photos and pricing information.

And of course, I always offers readers of this blog a discount, so just use the code PLUMBLOSSOM10 for ten percent off your order. And don't forget that I offer free shipping in the USA!

Thank you for looking and I hope you are having a peaceful and safe weekend.

See you again soon.

  

Flattening the Curve, Day 36

Hello friends. Today is the thirty-sixth day of of my mandatory leave from my work site due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Also today is Vintage Finds: Fitz and Floyd Chinoiserie Mantle Cats.

Since I became enamoured with all things chinoiserie a couple of years ago, I discovered that cats, like these cuties, and especially Staffordshire and Pekingese dogs are a thing as far as decorative mantle pieces go, and so I knew I needed at least one pair. So you might imagine my excitement when I spotted this set at my local charity shop one afternoon.

Fitz and Floyd is an American company, having been in business for over 50 years here in the United States. This pair of cats was manufactured in Japan, probably in the 1970s or 1980s, and features a lovely and unique cracked glaze finish. In addition, there are subtle differences in appearance and shape. And the fact that they are hand painted individualizes each cat.

Here's the cat on the left:

And here's the cat on the right:

Did you notice how each cat sits on a royal blue pillow, complete with tassel embellisments? I love that!

The original sticker bearing the Fitz and Floyd marking is still present on the bottom of each piece. The bottoms are covered with a dark colored non-slip material.

And lastly, here's a photo of the backs of the cats.

Thank you for joining me for another Vintage Finds post!

I hope you are safe and well and making it through this pandemic without too much heartache.

P.S. The chinoiserie fabric backdrop is a remnant of Waverly Williamsburg Asian Arcadia Sapphire from 1502 Fabrics, from when I made a valance style curtain for my kitchen window.