What we can hear in the silence

Have you noticed how silent the world has gone? The large metropolis of London, for instance, usually has a 24-hour roar over it that has suddenly gone very quiet. No planes, very little traffic. In a world that is full of tears, anxiety and suffering, we are enjoying clean air and... bird song!

I am lucky enough to have a garden, and the bird song has been deafening at times. I found myself looking up the different songs online so I can distinguish them; something I learned as a child but then largely forgot as you can't hear much in London. It is such a joy to rediscover the birds!

Someone who knew a lot about birds was Joseph Smith, a porcelain painter in the 19th Century who became very famous at the Minton pottery for painting the most wonderful naturalistic birds. Today I am showing a stunning dessert service with named birds from 1851 - each plate has the name of the bird painted in beautiful long hand on the back. Smith didn't just paint any birds; he really studied them in books and in the wild so that he could paint them as truthfully as he could.

This service is an iconic example of his work. It has been loved for many years; it is a bit worn and it has the odd hairline crack coming off the rim. But each item is still in good usable condition and, well, do I need to mention that it looks stunning?

You can see this beautiful dessert service here in my shop, and you can see all dessert services 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, listen to the birds - and #stayathome ! 🏡