Hmmmm... My blog is mainly about gardening (I think), but I'm not going to apologise for making a few diversions. The item is about two things: showing off some more pictures of my veg; and giving some air-time to some of the wonderful bowls, plates and pots that Jane and I have acquired on our travels around the world over the last 30 years or so. Instead of buying the usual tacky holiday souvenirs when we go abroad, we try to buy a piece of pottery from each place we visit -- preferably locally-made. Thereafter, whenever we use them we reminisce about those moments from the past. We do use many of these items quite a lot, but these days we have so many that some of them seldom see the light of day, and have to remain in a cupboard somewhere. This is their moment of glory!
The first one is my personal favourite. It is a small (10cm) dish, made in Napier, New Zealand. We bought it in a shop in Day's Bay, across the bay from Wellington. I remember the day well, because crossing the bay on a stormy day in a very small boat was quite exciting!
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| The Sunflower dish from Day's Bay, Wellington, NZ |
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| Olive bowl, Jersey Pottery |
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| A large platter from Guernsey Pottery |
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| Two little leaf-shaped bowls from Penang, Malaysia |
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| Another Penang bowl, this time in the shape of a Scallop shell |
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| A striking blue plate from Prague, Czech Republic |
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| Another Prague item -- a bowl bought to match the big plate |
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| A heart-shaped dish from Jaipur, Rajasthan |
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| Another Jaipur dish, with some chillis this time |
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| Another Jaipur one |
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| This one was bought in the Rocks area, Sydney, Australia |
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| An English one for a change -- New Forest Pottery |
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| Another New Forest Pottery item |
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| This one is from Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands |
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| This is from somewhere in the Cotswolds -- don't remember exactly where! |
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| A North African dish -- a gift not a souvenir... |
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| A small Moroccan-style dish -- actually bought in San Francisco! |
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| The "Anthurium" dish from Ocho Rios, Jamaica |
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| A double-headed mythological bird from Panama -- is it a "Quetzal"?? |
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| A peasant-style dish from Tulum, near Cancun, Mexico |
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| A Japanese dish -- but a gift from a visitor to New York! |
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| A piece of German Walther glassware bought in St.Wolfgang, Austria |
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| A couple of little dishes from La Croix Valmer, Provence |
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| A more impressive bowl from La Croix Valmer -- our 30th Wedding Anniversary present to ourselves |
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| An Australian Sandstone dish, a gift from our friend Rosemary |
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| A simple Chinese dish from See Woo in Reading -- definitely not a holiday souvenir!! |
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| A little Chinese dish from Hong Kong, showing off a Tomatillo skeleton |
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| A Susie Cooper serving plate -- made in 1939 -- inherited from my Father |
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| A chutney dish from my Army days -- showing the crest of 7th Gurkha Rifles |
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| On the crest of a wave -- a fine piece from Te-Papa museum, Wellington, NZ |
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| A piece of Gmundener Keramik, from Austria |
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| Another Gmundener Keramik piece -- bought this one in Vienna |
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| Poole Pottery - not a holiday souvenir, but nice anyway! |
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| Home-grown apples on a Portmeirion platter |
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| A selection of olive bowls -- the one on the right is from Aix-en-Provence |
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| Olive dish -- about 10cm square |
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| Small Chinese dish from Hong Kong |
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| Soy sauce dishes -- Hong Kong |
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| Chinese rice-bowl -- Hong Kong |
You probably noticed thay my tomatoes got tired of posing for more photos, and I lapsed into just photgraphing the dishes on their own... Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at these as much as I enjoyed photographing them.
Mark, I love all your beautiful pottery! And I thought I had a lot of dishes! I don't have the gorgeous variety you have--a really nice assortment!
ReplyDeleteThese were a joy to look at, thanks so much for sharing them with us.
ReplyDelete