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?

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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