Wicker Dale
Part One
"So Ridiculous of You"
It
has been quite a bit of time passed since the incident that prompts this essay
on
Taste
In
New England
For
old china
Came
through.
What
‘came through’ then came after quite a bit of time had passed about what it is
that prompts this incident to be about
Taste
In
New England
For
old china.
Let
me say that it is forty years? No:
It is more accurate to say fifty years.
And that does not include me considering ‘the first time’ and ‘touch my
lips’. What does that mean? It means that before the times of the
incidents (I’ve noted TWO incidents) of my essay, I had, myself, long before,
had my ‘the first time’ with fine English earthenware china.... NOT ANTIQUE
fine English earthenware china... but actually (and back then) rather new ‘fine
English earthenware china’ ... ‘touch my lips’. I am actually ‘be sure’ that I may say that I had that
(first time & touch lips) well before (“from birth”) these two
incidents. Is that how I
“know”? It... could well... have
something to do with it.
But
maybe not.
What
is there to ‘know’ anyway? There
isn’t much, in fact, to ‘know’ if all you know IS ‘fine English Earthenware
china’. One’s lips... touch
nothing else. Of course then
there’s a problem. Do your lips...
touch... what? And you do not know
what lips touch? Your lips
touch? Or is it worse? One’s lips touch what one
Thinks
Is
fine English earthenware china?
Yes there is a problem there.
Just because, for example, it (a specimen of English china) says ‘Made
In England’ (often shortened to simply ‘England’), this does not mean... “it
is”... fine English earthenware china.
The English will be the first to support my... suggestive
observation. If the reader is worried
about what is ‘in the breakfront’ that they ‘have been using’... meaning that
one ‘does not know’ (“for sure”)... one should be: “Is this a problem?”.
When
the first incident of this essay took place... it was so long ago that it now
seems to dream. Things are
different now then ‘back then’?
Not really... as long as one stays in New England... in the to
dream. What does that mean? It means that the ceremonial overrun of
New England taste for fine English earthenware china by southwestern cowboy
boot wearing glue gun welding gum snaps hair dyed ‘blonde’ (Yes... we all know
they’ve “bought property” “here”.) and their “china” (usually “porcelain”) is
not part of the to dream... or this essay.
I
didn’t quite know when I first was sitting sipping coffee with her. Her ‘she made’ percolated coffee. We sipped. It was afternoon.
I had ‘come by with’. That
is an antiquarian dealer sales ploy:
“WHO can I sell THIS too? I
know (who) and she is HOME right now (probably) so I will use the “going by” to
“come by with” SOMETHING (a real
antique in fact) “You may be interested in (want to buy... from me...
NOW). I... do that all the
time. “Now, now, now”; I haven’t offered the reader ANYTHING
(no ‘real antique in fact’) so do not go to... ‘going on’... at me.
And so... there I am with it ...
and her and she and I and the percolated coffee that she pours from the coffee
pot that matched the coffee cups upon their matching coffee cup saucers. She pours that coffee with a pattern
matching cream pitcher beside of ...no she was not ‘half and half’ back then...
cream... with sugar in a sugar bowl that, too... matches the whole it of this
‘in a to dream’.
But
very real. Some days it (the
antique for sale) could be a Rockingham (English mottle brown glazed stoneware)
dog or a marble based Girandole set or a brass fireplace ember guard or a lead
glass English ‘wine set’ or a pair of silver plated grape
(snip-cluster-to-serve) scissors or a coin silver spoon set (of eight or
twelve). “Maker marked; made in
Portsmouth (NH).” I promote.
She... didn’t always ever just ‘that’. NO. She
pretended to know... but no... I know... she... didn’t always ever just
‘that’. What that means is she
didn’t know ...like I know; a ‘dealer know’... but know, she did, to pretend
she know and what she know and how she know was ...just fine because everything
she’d ever done... did... do... is... has... ever... is ‘just fine’ and of
impeccable ‘good taste’ too. “I
know”.
That’s
right; THAT kind of people pouring coffee for me when I ‘come by with’. And she always bought a something and
often a “think I’ll get that too”.
She didn’t ‘think’... she ‘did’.
And we finished sipping our coffee. And spoke very well to each other about ‘antiques’ (a vast
subject). Then I would take my
leave and she would write my check.
Always... when I left.. . the coffee service of fine English earthenware
china would be ...setting... on it’s tray on the antique ‘tea table’ (actually
an original surface rosewood stained New England Birch Hepplewhite cut corner
Pembroke drop leaf side table) “that was my mothers” (even though I knew ‘where
and from whom she bought it’) against the wall with ...one leaf up. She put the leaf up before bringing the
coffee tray ‘in’ and ...setting... it there. She did not have a ‘coffee table’. The coffee tray was always the same ‘old family’ “English”
“Sheffield” (silver on copper) “plate”.
With...; set upon it... the coffee service of... fine English
earthenware china. This was “We
were married in 1947” (“or was it forty-eight?”) Copeland Spode “Wicker Dale”
pattern. Exactly that and nothing
else. Ever.
The
woman was dying of breast cancer.
One could do that back then.
With very little ceremony.
She knew that and I knew that and she knew that I knew and I knew that
she knew that I knew so we
Absolutely
never spoke of it
Ever.
No...
“you don’t do that”. We sipped
coffee and ‘discussed’ “antiques”.
Today they snap their gum and get out their glue gun when one “has”
“breast cancer”. Back then; ‘to
dream’, we... sipped coffee poured in English earthenware china coffee cups...
rested on their saucers.
Do
this bother you: She ‘has breast
cancer’? “It is really very sad
isn’t it. But I understand: This is the way it is. Anyway.” That is all she ever said about it. And we sipped. I said nothing. To say something? “You don’t do that”.
For
the purpose of this essay, it is the Wicker Dale that stays. The rest is naturally on its
course. I didn’t say I “like”
Wicker Dale... ever ...back then.
Wouldn’t have even considered it.
We, together, sipping, were ‘all antiques’. And Wicker Dale is not antique. It is the “was” the ‘her coffee service’. On the tray. On the table.
With one leaf up. But I...
with my eye... did... and still do... see it. That’s right:
“I” and “eye”. And of
course I handle it too. It comes
around... in my antiquarian travels.
Here and there... a ‘piece’ and, occasionally, a whole service. “Of Wicker Dale”.
Some
of it isn’t very old. I can tell
right off. It is ‘made different’
than the earlier (1940-1960) Wicker Dale.
What is different? The earlier’s
earthenware clay body is more ‘toward’(that is a subtle word an antiquarian
must learn ...and use) the earlier
(antique) English earthenware. The mold casting is finer. Thinner; the
rims are thin... when they touch my lips.
The ‘color’ too is not ‘so white’.
It ...hints... (that too... is a subtle word an antiquarian must learn
...and use) at ‘eggnog’ (a color) (“creamware” is the traditional antiquarian
dealer / collector title of this color.
Be careful using ‘creamware’ unless one is ‘sure’).
I haven’t spoken of the pattern
yet. And do not have to. Everyone who is anyone... understands
that ‘Wicker Dale’ “is nice”. Yes
that is so true but takes on a ‘considerable more’ when one discerns the
kingdom of ‘taste’. In New
England. That kingdom I will
poke... but:
Staying
with the clay body, its cast molding and its subtle color; do I ‘know the
difference”? I have already told;
there is no difference for the ...only this... touches lips. ALL the others are... not... “this
fine”. ‘This fine’ is NOT the
decoration and NOT the forms. I am
speaking of... here... the blank... mold cast... English earthenware (with the
emphasis on ‘earthenware’[1])...
clay body and “how THIN that is” when ...: Yes just a glance of my eye through the breakfront’s glass
doors and I denote that ‘that’ ‘in there’ is... “not” a: “Very fine” “earthenware” “Made in
England” “a service”. No: I never even need to touch it “to see”
for I do dearly ‘know’ what ‘touches my lips”. I have just said that if it (a service) is not of a fine
cast fine earthenware clay of the best old style English earthenware
(“Staffordshire”)... I know ‘at glance’.
They know. Everyone who
know... knows and
[1] : The “Earthenware” ‘clay body’ is ‘low
fire’ ‘semi-porous’ “soft” (hence ‘soft paste’) and opaque (“cannot see through
it”)... middle class by intent and design... ‘china’. “Porcelain” (a wide variety of ‘china’s’) is a ‘high fire’
‘non-porous’ and an often ‘transparent’ ‘clay body’. “Soft Paste” (English earthenware china) was... used, broken
and thrown out by the middle class... in New England. That is what makes it ‘rare’; the broken and thrown
out. Down privies in town and
‘over the bank’... on old New England farms. That is why the little pieces are ‘found’ ‘there’ “in my
garden”. It is... also... ‘why’
English earthenware is. In New
England. And is... good
taste. Meaning too...: “Porcelain” is “No.”. That is right: In New England... taste... all those “porcelain
cups and saucers are awful”.
Taking
that poor (tawdry) service out of the breakfront and putting it in cardboard boxes
and “donating” “it” to the “a church sale” is a... fine first step... of ‘good
taste’... in the New England home.
Once the cupboard is bare
And the visitors stare
After asking where...
And how could you dare
To leave it so bare
Or “so ridiculous of you”
To even care
One
may begin.
“Wicker
Dale?”
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