April | 2014 | Building Bridges

Archive for April, 2014

Flowers, flowers

Posted in Art/Culture, Flowers, tagged Art, Claude Monet, Flowers, garden, impressionism, monet, monet anemones, painting on April 29, 2014| 6 Comments »

Claude Monet – Still Life with Anemones. (Credit: wikipaintings.org)

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”
― Claude Monet

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Luster and Rose

Posted in Flowers, Home/Garden, tagged iridescent ware, kitchen, kudo toki, lusterware, schumann cake plate, schumann wild rose, tea, teacup, teapot, vintage on April 22, 2014| 26 Comments »

Vintage lusterware tea set, from Japan.

Once in a while, I treat myself to a flea market expedition, looking for vintage kitchen ware, something that I really enjoy.

Here are two of my recent finds, and some information that I discovered.

The lusterware tea set bears the brand “Kudo Toki”. It was made in Japan, probably some time between 1920 and 1960. Luster is a type of pottery with a metallic glaze that gives it an iridescent sheen. Lusterware was invented in Egypt and Iraq, and later became popular in England and Japan.

I like the shimmering quality, the classic design and the graceful curves of the handles.

The other is a cake plate with the mark “Schumann, Germany”. The Schumann factory was established in Bavaria, Germany in 1881. And it closed in 1994. The design is called “Wild Rose”, one of its most popular motifs.