November, 19 13 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



379 



for the wealth of "old blue" ware ac- 

 quired in the search for Colonial relics is 

 as effective aesthetically, as it is choice 

 from the antiquary's standpoint. While 

 no one room has a monopoly of china, 

 it is very properly in the dining-room, 

 the greatest wealth of this precious 

 treasure is seen. In order to properly 

 display it, every inch of wall space is 

 used. Yet there is no sense of over- 

 crowding; only a consciousness of the 

 delicious massing of color, that rich 

 deep blue to be seen only in this sort 

 of china. 



Until recently, English views have 

 gone begging in this country, American 

 collectors preferring native views to 

 those from the other side. A decided 

 change of heart has taken place re- 

 cently, and the upward trend of prices This old Dutch kas 

 for English views is said to be an indi- antique 



cation of the growing demand for them. Mr. Williamson 

 has specialized in this direction, and it has been his good 

 fortune to identify an English series which heretofore has 

 defied classification. On a platter bearing a View of Lin- 

 dertis, Forforshire, he discovered Heath's mark by which 

 one places this series among those of known makers. 



An unusual piece is a twenty-one-inch Turin platter by 

 Woods. This, Air. Williamson says, is the finest specimen 

 of blue transfer printing he has ever seen. Not only is the 

 color exquisite, but the drawing of the picture itself is far 

 superior to other pieces. In it the border is repeated mak- 

 ing a beautiful frame of dark blue which, in contrast to the 



lighter center portion, forms a most ef- 

 fective decoration. The rarest of the 

 English views is a nine-inch plate by 

 Tarns, the View of Blenheim, before 

 mentioned, which so far as is known, is 

 the only specimen of its kind in exist- 

 ence. Mr. Williamson is compiling a 

 list of English views and has already 

 succeeded in adding a large number to 

 those already classified. As most col- 

 lectors of old Staffordshire blue china 

 are confined to the historic American 

 views, I have purposely omitted mention 

 of these, for while Mr. Williamson's 

 collection contains many of the rare 

 varieties, the subject has been so ably 

 treated by others that no additional 

 comments seem necessary. 



Whether by accident or design, it is 

 true that Mr. Williamson has picked 

 up about one hundred and fifty of the 

 quaintest coffee-pots and tea-pots imaginable, and the ap- 

 peal they make to popular as well as to cultivated taste is 

 instant and ample, perhaps because of the delectable brew 

 pertaining to their use. One of the loveliest examples and 

 by all odds the gem of the collection, is a gold luster coffee- 

 pot of Wedgwood's, although his name does not appear 

 on the ware. It was a custom of Whieldon never to iden- 

 tify his pieces by any mark or name, and it might well be 

 that his illustrious contemporary and sometime partner fol- 

 lowed in his footsteps in this respect, but in both cases their 

 workmanship is so superior it can't be mistaken, for as one 

 expert remarks, "No inventor ever approached their per- 



is a notable piece of 

 furniture 



The old-fashioned garden comes quite up to the hospitable house 



