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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Want a Little Tea With That Sugar? An Old Sugar Bowl Tells A Tale. . . .

Pssssttt.... want a little sugar? Or a lot?

'Way back when, sugar didn't come in free-pouring granulated form, or tidy perfect little cubes. It came in big rugged chunks. It took a big rugged sugar bowl to handle these chunks of sugar. And people used plenty of sugar back then!

And that's what I've got to show you today, provided we can call an old piece of china "rugged."


Okay, I admit it; I am addicted to making mosaics and here is one of a
late 19th century Aesthetic movement sugar bowl that belonged to my mother.


Mrs. Sugar is a big generous gal with an Aesthetic-style shape, and
brown, blue and pale orange flowers and vines. A very contemporary color combination!

She tells a tale, just by standing there, of how different our tastes were and how
different our household rituals were, a hundred years ago.


She's a big 'un. The old spooner next to her is the size of a typical sugar bowl
and is about half her size. Does the spooner look afraid?


She's clean (except for some dust, part of my system of protective coatings on antiques)
and she has no chips or flaws, just a little wear on the transfer printing. The painting is in excellent shape, although there is wear to the gilt.


I guess they used tongs to fish out chunks of sugar for coffee or tea.

Spoons wouldn't have worked, unless they were iced tea spoons and could reach to the bottom.


I am not sure where my mother picked up this sugar bowl, but I know it would have been in a thrifty setting; Mama was a thrifter before we knew the term.

To my surprise there is a stamp on the bottom that reads -- Limoges. I can't find this stamp in any listing of Limoges marks, and it may be American Limoges as it doesn't say France.

Doesn't matter to me; it could have been made by Bob's Pretty Good Pottery Shop and I'd still like it.

This is an odd looking stamp; it's too small to see clearly unless you enlarge it a lot
(it could not possibly be that I need stronger reading glasses, could it?).

Does anyone else see a little man in this mark?

*****************************************************************************

Thanks to Leigh of Bloggeritaville for hosting Thrifty Thursday,


and to Suzanne of Coloradolady blog, for hosting Vintage Thingies Thursday.


Click any highlighted words, or the icons, to be transported to these lovely blogs and see what everyone else is featuring today. Please leave a comment if you have time; it's such a lovely encouragement to new bloggers, and new participants, not to mention a thrill for everyone! -- Cass

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the wonderful comment. you are still close with your mom and dad and that is great . And yes I saw the little man in the mark.

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  2. Fun post. It's fun to see what homemakers used years ago and what today's homemakers are using instead.

    Melinda

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  3. Just a beautiful pattern! I love it.

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  4. Yes, yes, I see the man in the mark. I was confused...I thought it was Bob from Bob's Pretty Good Pottery Shop. Whoops, my mistake. Anyhoo, I never knew that sugar bowls came that large.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Living it up at Lakewood,
    Cindy

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  5. What a beautiful sugar bowl. I have some smaller ones, nothing this size, this is a beauty. Love the mark too. Have a great weekend and a Happy VTT!

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  6. After visualizing how much sugar she holds, all I can think of is what dental care was like in those days. Yikes! I do see the little man too.
    ~Andrea~

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  7. It's okay Cass, we all see the little man. Sure we do.
    I never knew that about sugar coming in big chunks. Hmmm.
    This is a very special piece then isn't it.

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  8. HI Cass! Oh, this sugar bowl is beautiful! I didn't know sugar used to come in big chunks! See how knowledgeable you are? :) I see that little man!
    Be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  9. I see the man..can the man see me???

    Do you see a man in the moon?

    It's a man's world..huh...

    LOL, too much blog hopping tonight!

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  10. Thanks for stopping by! I love this sugar bowl! SO unique!

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  11. I saw the little man. You have a beautiful find and you are right the little spoon wouldn't do the job.

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  12. Mrs. Sugar is one handsome woman! I wonder if they had sugar cubes back then?

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  13. That is such a pretty sugar bowl, and how special that it was your mother's. I love your protective coat of dust (I'll be using that line a lot!) I'm sure everyone's already noticed, but I am really addicted to mosaics. Yes, I see the little man in the mark. What an interesting mark that is. laurie

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