C is for Cased Glass

Cased Glass has been in existence for of a number of centuries, in many countries including China, Germany, and Bohemia,  yet the best pieces incorporated the fine use of hand cutting tools by English glassmakers beginning in 1825.  The effect was quite decorative and highlighted the creative expression and inordinate skill of the artist. French cased glass was produced in smaller quantities until the late 1800's, at which time the engraving wheel almost completely eliminated the hand crafted elements. Hydrofluoric acid was used to remove unwanted glass in combination with the engraving wheel, yet it was the meticulous and delicate hand sculpturing techniques that produced some of the most outstanding pieces of art.

Cased glass consists of two or more layers of different colors with a lovely satin-like feel and appearance, engraved by hand.  The process may be created by

• blowing a color inside a piece that is already made -or-
• layering different colored glass over each other.

In each case, the multiple layers of glass are fused together thus creating a uniquely beautiful piece.

Also known as Cameo Glass,  a cased glass Thomas Webb 4.5 " vase recently listed on e-bay for $1000., a result of its rarity and artistic decorative qualities.

Thomas Webb & Sons (1837) from Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England produced lovely examples of this art form with pieces very much sought after and highly collectible.   Happy Hunting!

Columbus Clouds

Columbus Day celebrates, simply, the 1492 five week voyage of three small Spanish ships - the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria - that terminated with 'discovery' of the Western Hemisphere.  Often referred to as the Encounter of Two Worlds, it was in fact the first step in the process of permanent European colonization into America.  However one may regard its significance, Columbus Day represents a melding of cultures; it is also a source of pride for Italians honoring one of their own, Cristoforo Colombo.  

As a tribute to our America I give symbol to these clouds representing freedom from tyranny.  

We are able to BE... on cloud nine, so to speak.  

Did you know that types of clouds are assigned numbers according to their altitude, with 9 being the highest? To be on cloud 9 is to be high above worldly cares..... Freedom is what comforts us as freedom is what ensures it. 

Enjoy your Columbus Day holiday everyone!

B is for Blue Willow

Blue Willow is a distinctive elaborately patterned dish ware designed by Thomas Minton in 1790.  The pieces are examples of blue oxide transferware,  created in 1775.  Minton's process eliminated the tedium of hand painted china with the use of copper plate etchings to create repetitive copies.  The Blue Willow Ware pattern was created in response to the high demand for Far East Canton and Nanking goods.  It was Chinese imitation at its best:  bridges, flying birds, pagodas, rivers and weeping willows. The pattern was so popular it was copied by countless manufacturers, in many countries including China itself!

Through the centuries stories were passed down to promote sales of Minton's  Blue Willow pattern.  As an incurable romantic, I am especially enamored with  the following tale, entitled fittingly 

The Romantic Fable

Once there was a wealthy Mandarin who had a beautiful daughter, Koong-se.  She had fallen in love with her father's humble accounting assistant, Chang, angering her father due to the class differences between them.  He dismissed the young man and built a high fence around his house to keep the lovers apart.  The Mandarin was planning for his daughter to marry a powerful Duke.  The Duke arrived by boat to claim his bride, bearing a box of jewels as a gift. The wedding was to take place on the day the blossom fell from the willow tree.  On  the eve of the daughter's wedding to the Duke, the young accountant, disguised as a servant, slipped into the palace unnoticed.  As the lovers escaped with the jewels, the alarm was raised.  They ran over a bridge, chased by the Mandarin, whip in hand.  They eventually escaped on the Duke's ship to the safety of a secluded island, where they lived happily for years.  But one day, the Duke learned of their refuge.  Hungry for revenge, he sent soldiers, who captured the lovers and put them to death.  The Gods, moved by their plight, transformed the lovers in to a pair of doves.

Who knew dish ware could provide such a story of devoted love and passion.  My kind of cool!

For the coffee lover:  this perfectly sized  large 'mush cup'  is available for sale at simplycoolstuff

Ode to the Autumnal Equinox

The Autumnal Equinox in the northern hemisphere occurs when night and day are nearly the same length of 12 hours each.  This happens the moment the sun crosses the celestial equator (declination 0) moving from north to south.  The date could be anytime from the 22nd through the 24th of September, marking the first day of the season of autumn.  Equinox derives from the Latin meaning 'equal night'.

By all these lovely tokens September days are here

with summers best of weather

And Autumns best of cheer. 

                                                                     Helen Hunt Jackson, 1830-1885, American Writer

Parker River National Wildlife Refuge and Plum Island Sound Estuary 

 love you Dad

Birds get restless while humans hunker down...
Farewell Summer.  You were a Beauty!

Be You

It is never too late to become what you might have been.

George Eliot, aka Anne Evans, 1819-1880,  English Novelist

A is for Antiques

To say something is an antique delineates some kind of craftsmanship made precious as a result of age and rarity.  The US Customs Office defines an antique as an object that is at least 100 years old.  It was the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act which constituted an antique as a 'work of art (except rugs and carpets made after the year 1700), collections in illustration of the progress of the arts, works in bronze, marble, terra cotta, parian, pottery or porcelain, artistic antiquities and objects of ornamental character or educatioal value which shall have been produced prior to the year 1830.'  That year heralded the beginning of mass production, and the definition makes the distinction between genuine antiques, vintage items and collectibles.  

Do you  L O V E  the uniqueness of antiques as much as I do?  They provide such a special link to those days gone by that cannot be replicated by modern artifacts no matter how hard we try.  Old is old!

Ageless

Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone. - Jim Fiebig

On this Labor Day, may you celebrate in the spirit of the holiday that has been in existence since 1894.    As a tribute to American workers and as a symbol of the end of summer - enjoy your day of rest, and, 

your ice cream...in the cone.... Be safe everyone!