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Fresh tulips


These tulip vases were popular in the early 19th Century and were made by unknown Staffordshire potters. But these particular ones have an interesting story...

Sir Humphry Wakefield is an English baronet and expert on antiques, who rescued the delapidated Chillingham Castle in Northumberland, which has the dubious reputation of being the most haunted castle in England. He found that much of the interior was either destroyed or missing. In order to recreate the beautiful interior of the castle in a faithful manner, rather than collecting mismatched items from the wrong periods as so often happens in these cases, he decided to have them reproduced with the original craftsmanship. This is how the "Sir Humphry Wakefield Stately Homes Collection" was born in 1980. ⁠

For the porcelain items Sir Humphrey went to Mottahedeh in New York. Mottahedeh are the prime makers of historical reproductions. The firm was started by Rafi and Mildred Mottahedeh in the mid 20th Century; they were avid collectors of antiques and started to commission reproductions because they saw there was a need to fill out incomplete collections. Over the years, the firm has not only re-issued many designs for the commercial market, but it serves museums all over the world with reproductions that are almost impossible to distinguish from the original. ⁠ These two vases are such items; they are exactly the same as the originals and show the same level of traditional craftsmanship. They were made in Italy between 1980 and 2000 and they would have not only been created for display at Chillingham Castle, but were produced in a small quantity for the collectors market.


While I can't think of anything worse than badly made imitations, a well-made reproduction that honestly repeats craftsmanship and artistic talent can be wonderful!

And here is a riddle for the cleverest of us: did you spot the curious spelling mistake?? (you'd think this would have been checked before firing the items). Tell us in the comments! 🤓


You can find these beauties here in my shop (and you can see all my decorative objects here), and if you always want to see the latest additions, follow me on Instagram... I post pictures and a story every single day 🌷🌷🌷⁠.


Enjoy your weekend!




 

This week's new treasures:​

 








2 Comments


willa
willa
Feb 08, 2020

Yes that's right! One of my readers wrote to me pointing out that the Welsh spelling is Humphry (which is the correct spelling) but the porcelain mark must have been made by an English or American person who would have spelt it as Humphrey, with an extra e.

Thank you for your interest!

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Noreen Alexander
Noreen Alexander
Feb 08, 2020

Another interesting post, thank you! They spelt his first name incorrectly! Another reason this piqued my interest, my maiden surname was Wakefield, and our ancestor was born in Kent UK, before he sailed down to South Africa.

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