Mockingbird Hill Cottage — Page 1155 — Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Clues

April 11, 2015 at 9:42 am by Claudia

I see sun.

I also hear a lot of wind, but I’m not going to be too picky.

Sunshine is good.

I’ve said it before and you know I’m going to say it again. And again. I am blessed with the loveliest readers; scratch readers…friends. One of those friends is Barb, who lives in Canada. She sent me a package and it just arrived yesterday.

4-11 egg cups wooden

I unwrapped these beautiful wooden egg cups.

I really love them. Let’s get a closeup of that wood grain:

4-11 egg cups wooden closeup

Beautiful.

Also included in this lovely package was this guy:

4-11 egg cups man

A little spooky in the most wonderful way. Something about the style of this one struck of chord in the recesses of my memory. I’d seen egg cups that were done in this same style.

4-11 egg cups man 2

When I flipped him over, the stamped maker’s mark was so faint that I could only make out two words:

4-11 egg cups man mark

“Royal” and “Made.”

Don joined in and eventually we found we could barely make out “…ong” and C in the center.

Okay, I thought. There’s a challenge. And you know I love mysteries and crossword puzzles and solving things.

So, I started searching egg cups online. Using the words ‘egg cup’ and ‘royal’ narrowed it down a bit. However, there are lots of pottery makers that use the word ‘royal’ in their trademark. Finally, I saw a blue egg cup in the shape of a dog that was very much like this one. Then I saw another. And finally, after looking at even more egg cups, I was able to see a listing that also showed the stamped mark on the bottom.

Bingo.

Royal Art Pottery
Longton
C
Made in England

Aha!

Don was great, by the way, looking at the mark, examining it closely, suggesting what search words to use. We were like the Hardy Boys, except we were the Hardy Boy and Girl.

Barb, thank you, thank you! My collection has grown quite a bit in the last week or so. I have two more finds I’ll share with you soon and even better, the story of an amazing score on eBay. The kind of score that happens very rarely and which sent my adrenaline levels through the roof as I watched the clock count down on the auction yesterday.

It took me a while to recover.

But that will have to wait until it arrives in my mailbox. I can’t wait.

Happy Saturday.

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Pottery Plotting

April 10, 2015 at 8:50 am by Claudia

3-17 duck1

I’m so glad you want to see a series about McCoy Pottery! Thank you so much for all the positive responses!

I’m already thinking about how to present it. By color? By the room the pottery is in? By theme? The mind boggles.

I have several pieces way up on top of my cupboards in the kitchen. Doing the series means I have to get them down from there and give them a good wash – always a good thing. It also means I will pull out my McCoy reference books to check my facts about each piece. And maybe I’ll see a photo of that duck up there on the piano which will confirm my suspicion that, though unmarked, it is indeed McCoy.

I’m more than a little in love with that duck, by the way.

Thinking about all things McCoy sent me to eBay yesterday, where I cruised through pages and pages of listings. I wasn’t there to bid on anything, just to see what’s available nowadays. The most recent pieces I’ve acquired have been via local antique shops where I just happened on a piece that I didn’t have, but in the beginning almost everything I purchased was through eBay.

I could talk about pottery and china for hours. I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Fantasy: We build an addition onto the house that has a family room, master bedroom and a laundry room with lots of storage. It also has lots of shelves for books. And pottery.

Oh my goodness, my heart just races at the thought of it all.

This morning is still rainy and dreary and I could swear the weather report was for a nicer, warmer, sunnier day today. What the ??? The last three days have been damp, cold, and interminably rainy. We desperately need to see the sun here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage.

Happy Friday.

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Around the House

April 9, 2015 at 8:49 am by Claudia

Because the last post like this one got such a positive response, here is another edition of Around the House, as seen yesterday.

4-9 Short

Because neither of us is.

Short, I mean.

4-9 parakeet lamp

Because all lamps should include parakeets.

4-9 impatiens

Because it’s almost time to move the impatiens to the porch.

4-9 Scoutie

Because she likes to catch some zzz’s.

4-9 lamp

Because I love the lines of this lamp.

And the perfect glass shade that I searched for and finally found.

4-9 whitelamp

Because this lamp is cool and has a cloth-covered cord.

4-9 books

Because I love books and pottery.

And before you ask, no, I only did a book of the first year of the blog.

4-9 currier&ives

Because this is an original Currier & Ives print/lithograph.

Very old, very fragile. Found at auction many years ago.

4-9 earbuds

Because earbuds must always be at the ready.

As well as pens, pencils, nail file, scissors and crochet hooks.

I have a quick question for you. I collect McCoy Pottery, as you no doubt have realized by now. Would you be at all interested in a short series of posts about those pieces, like the series I did about the egg cup collection? I did one many years ago, but I have a nicer camera now and many of you are newish readers. It might be fun.

Happy Thursday.

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Clues

Pottery Plotting

Around the House

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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