January has been a bit of a [...]]]> Anyone following my blog will have noticed a drop-off in posts and I think a drop-off in quality.

January has been a bit of a drag really, travel and schooling disrupted and so on, a lot of new projects to nurture, not least the 2010 – 2011 Wales Antiques Guide.

As well, I have been clearing out a lot of bits and pieces and selling some of them quite well in Steve Furness’s Newcastle Emlyn Antiques Centre. My stall, Number 23, is bursting mainly with things ‘Mid Century Modern‘ (20th century, that is). I hope to post more about this later and perhaps introduce you to the G Plan revolution!

For today I thought I’d post a recent find. Unremarkable in design (it’s pretty much a Chinese Ginger Jar shape), and decoration (silver lustre, nothing new there). It’s the monogram that matters. The painted mark of Louise Powell (ne Lessore, 1882-1956) is rather rare to find (or rather, rare to find in these parts!). Damaged as you can see and repaired, old style, with staples, presumably not long after it was bought in the 1920′s or 30′s.

It is a trifle compared with the Arts and Crafts work she produced with her husband Alfred Powell, but interesting nonetheless. Not a keeper but one to remember.

If you want to know more about Wedgwood in the 20th Century here are two superbly researched and illustrated books.

Wedgwood Ceramics 1846-1959. A New Appraisal. Most Lavishly Illustrated, With Some Colour-Plates

Ravilious and Wedgwood: The Complete Wedgwood Designs of Eric Ravilious

This plate (glazed pottery, transfer printed, [...]]]> If you want to test your knowledge of history to the limit, buy antiques. Which is what I did this morning.

This plate (glazed pottery, transfer printed, about 24cms across) is a fairly familar model. It was made in the later part of Queen Victoria’s reign and these commeratives most commonly depict Her Majesty at the time of her 1887 Jubilee. The better quailty versions would show scenes from her mighty Empire and were often coloured with a gilded edge.

Other figures commemorated include the Duke of Clarence, Disraeli, Gladstone and other notables of the day. The latter were typically monochrome.

What makes this unusual (for me anyway) is that I’ve never seen this subject before. Stanley I know of from broad-stroke schoolboy history and his name is usually linked with Livingstone. And of course immediately one wants to know who more about Dr Emin Bey the Emin Pacha Relief Expedition; would anyone like to tell me WITHOUT googling?