Mountains, water, skies

Just before the pandemic hit I made a trip to Scotland, and I absolutely loved it: the water, the wind, the beautiful light of the purple rain-filled skies with the sun peeking through the clouds, and the very friendly people. I would have loved to explore more this year, but there is no travel right now! So today, let's take a porcelain journey up to Glasgow.

This set of 6 little plates was made by Bell in Glasgow in about 1860, and they have wonderful hand painted Scottish water landscapes on them. And, very Victorian, hot pink rims!

There were many potteries in Scotland although most not as famous as the English ones. There is of course the well-known Nautilus, which imitated English Worcester porcelain, but another famous pottery was Bells' Pottery, also known as the Glasgow Pottery. Bell and Nautilus were among several factories in Scotland that produced high quality porcelain in the 19th Century. Bell was founded by John and Matthew Preston Bell in about 1840 and made all kinds of pottery and porcelain, from sanitary ware and garden ornaments to fine tea services. They exported all over the world, including East Asia and the USA. The pottery was closed in 1929 to make space for the extension of the Caledonian Railway - and probably the changing markets and increasing competition from the USA.

These little plates would have belonged to a tea service as individual cake plates, or perhaps to a dessert or dinner service as salad or bread plates. They have Victorian hot pink rims, very restrained gilding, and wonderful hand painted water landscapes with mountains, beautiful skies and ships.

Scotland is of course a country of "lochs", similar to the Norwegian fjords. As there is a lot of rain and the climate is cold, there is water - lots of it! Even in the highlands there are plenty of lakes. What I love most about the landscape is the purple skies, always about to open up and chuck down a good amount of rain on you - but with beautiful colours and feeling wonderfully fresh. These paintings capture all that; the best of a Northern landscape.

You can find these beautiful little plates here in my shop, and you can see all my sets of plates here. If you always want to see the latest additions, follow me on Instagram... I post pictures and a story every single day!

Happy weekend, look up at the beautiful sky, and #donttravel! 🌧⛵️💨⛰