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Floral Posies

A few of my collection showing their fragility. Often when I find them they have cracks or breaks which is inevitable as they have often seen 50 years or more of life.

Love them or hate them! As I have well over 100 I think I must at least like them but, of course, only the ones with roses! I continue to collect them with my local antique shops and bazaar being my primary sources.

Each of these bone china posies is unique but when I started acquiring them they all looked similar to me. They have been handmade, hence their individuality, and apparently each maker could identify their own work. A skilled maker could produce a dozen flowers in 15 minutes which I am sure was encouraged by the fact they were paid by the number they made.

Adderley ceramic roses
Adderley.

I can identify the origins of one or two of the posies when I see them but not all as some seem to be much rarer than others, having been made by the smaller potteries of which there were many. Two great names are Adderley and Coalport; I can usually identify these. When it comes to Denton, Radnor, Royal Doulton, Five Towns China, Royal Stafford, Masefield, Thorley, Stratford, Crown and so on I am lost. Over 1500 pottery firms have operated in Stoke on Trent since the early 1700s. Some lasted only a few years but some over 200. Happily for me each posy has its origins written underneath. It is a pity they don’t have their date. I can only guess a broad date by knowing the dates each pottery survived.

Coalport ceramic posies
Coalport.

Sadly the majority of the companies making flowers closed in the latter part of the C20th and there is only one pottery still making them now. This is the Aynsley Pottery which acquired Denton China (Longton Ltd 1954) in 1969. Denton was well known for its flowers and a few of their posies contribute to my collection. The Aynsley floral factory is today one of the very few remaining truly handcraft industries left in Stoke on Trent. Decorating by hand a skilled team of artists create an effect which is recognisably different. Three separate firings in high temperatures ensure longevity and colour retention.

Royal Albert

The history of the posies is fascinating and runs alongside the history of all bone china. Flower making dates back to the 1740s but really took off when the second Josiah Spode developed bone china in 1797. (It is made from 50% bone ash, 25% Cornish stone and 25% China stone). Together with the flowers for floral posies flowers were also used to make jewellery, mostly brooches of which I have a growing collection.

During the 19th and 20th centuries the potteries grew around the five towns of Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, and Tunstall joining with Stoke and forming the larger town of Stoke on Trent in 1910. In 1907 there were 391 potteries with several thousand bottle kilns firing their wares with some companies having one kiln and others up to 25. Many of these potteries made flowers as well as their tea and dinner services and other pots. The success of the potteries continued until the late C20th. In the 1960s and 70s it is estimated that 70,000 people worked in the industry.

Bottle kilns of the mid C20th of which there were up to 4,000.

The number of potteries has dwindled to around 100, only 15 of which have any size and with only the one continuing the tradition of flower making. Today the number of workers in the industry is closer to 5,000. Where there were bottle kilns there are now office blocks and retail parks. One or two icons of British industry have been saved such as Wedgewood , Spode and Moorcroft but others have sadly been abandoned. The Royal Doulton factory which opened in 1877 stands empty and decayed while the Minton works is a Sainsburys.

Some of my collection which continues to grow.

So only relatively few of these nostalgic posies continue to be made but this, of course, makes them more interesting and more collectible. They are a little bit of our social history so whether you love them or hate them they have a contribution to make.

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Roses:A Bibliography of Botanical, Horticultural, and Other Works Related to the Genus Rosa.

Books about Roses

The number of books in the Rosarian Library continues to increase. I am continually searching for new titles, especially those that are reasonably priced. Fortunately the majority of books in the library have been purchased second hand at good value prices. A small number of new books, published this year, have been bought but most of the books are not new but are in remarkably good condition. There is a point, however, when their age makes them valuable and more difficult to find. Thus titles published before 1900 are usually expensive. There are many titles I covet but these will have to be collected gradually.

Image of Roses book
Roses:A Bibliography of Botanical, Horticultural, and Other Works Related to the Genus Rosa by Joanne Werger and Robert E. Burton.

Knowing the literature available is important and until now I have compiled a ‘wanted’ book list from the bibliographies of works that I have read. Suddenly this wanted list has become catastrophically long, challenging and expensive as a result of a much sought after gift from one of my children; the title above.

This work and it must have been hard work compiling it, lists all the books about roses including all aspects of horticulture such as propagation, growth, display and pest and disease control. It includes books about rose history, botany, industry, symbolism, poetry, art and literature. It includes books in the major languages of Western and Eastern Europe and Asia. It is a book I will use regularly not only to identify titles but also to keep a record of titles in the library. (Thank you very much Susannah).

So part of my work has been done for me but it has made me realise that I must set some boundaries for the Rosarian Library. I am yet unsure how I will do this. I cannot do it by language as the countries of Western Europe, particularly France, play a significant part in rose history and development. I do not want to limit the library to European titles as I already have a good number oif titles from North America and Australasia. Perhaps I should set a financial limit but that is not my nature. I already covet a pair of books which I know will cost several hundred pounds, that is if I can find them for sale! I could set a date boundary collecting only those since 1900 but I can see from the bibliography there are many publications between 1800 and 1900 and I so love old books! I expect the boundaries will be what I can find and what I think is a fair price.

This book was published in 1972. I wonder whether anyone is compiling a list of rose books published between then and now!

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A great painter of roses – Albert Williams (1922 – 2010)

The day I discovered Albert William’s paintings my life was enriched. Dramatic I know but every day I look at the prints and one original that I have collected and take great pleasure and enjoyment from their stunning beauty.

Several years ago, in a local charity shop, I saw two little prints and thought how pretty they were. I had no idea who had painted the roses but handed over my £3 for the two . I always research my rosy purchases, that is for me half the fun of buying them, so later that day found me at the computer typing in the name of Albert Williams.

When I discovered all the beautiful pictures of roses he had painted I was near to tears. They were not any rose pictures; they were beautiful. Painted in oils in a rainbow of colours they portrayed the lovely old roses I adore. I was also near to tears about a month ago when I managed to find and purchase my first original. It will not be the last.

Sadly, I discovered that he had died in 2010 in his late eighties. He painted virtually every day until the day he died and what a legacy he has left.

Albert Williams was born in Hove, Sussex on the 20th March 1922. He was the son of Arthur C. Williams, also a floral painter. His grandfather, too, was an artist and Albert studied Art under both of them. He also attended Art Schools in Brighton, London and Paris. He tried other genres of painting and is well known for them but he always returned to his floral work.

His paintings have been exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Oil Painters, the Royal Watercolour Society, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Paris Salon, the Edinburgh Festival and at numerous prestigious other galleries in London and around the country. In Art circles he was well known. It makes me regret that I had not heard of him before especially as I have loved roses for many years.

When painting roses Albert Williams always painted straight from the rose with each flower in his painting being a portrait of a particular bloom. Apparently if he did not complete a picture during the flowering season of his chosen flowers he would put it aside and wait until the next flowering season!

Since I discovered Albert Williams I have discovered more great painters of roses but I believe he will always be my favourite.

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Antique Rose Book

My eldest daughter brought me this book, Roses and Rose Gardens by Walter P. Wright back from a trip to Herefordshire earlier this year. I think perhaps it was the inspiration that made me catalogue all my books into a library. It has certainly made me search for more of the older books about roses.

The older the better. No doubt I will tell you about some of my others over time.

This book would inspire most people. Published in 1914 (the second edition; the first was published in 1911) it has the delightful musty smell of age and a few speckles of a rusty nature.

Inside there are six beautiful prints of Beatrice Parsons paintings of gardens, together with early photos and diagrams. They nearly make me forget about the content of the text which is about rose growing – planting, pruning and grafting but also includes the wider subjects of their history, use as a cut flower and their beauty and fragrance. A really great old book full of information and inspiration.

Inside old books you can find such intriguing snippets that have been left behind unnoticed. In this one there is a brown and tattered old ‘Carters Detailed List of Choice Named Gladioli and other Spring Planting and Summer Flower Bulbs’. It is only a small leaflet but if anyone is interested they are welcome. I know I would love similar about roses!

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Catharina Klein painting

When I saw this painting I knew that I had seen it before; on an old ‘postkarte’ that I had in my collection. I was sure I was looking at a Catharina Klein (1861-1929) or a copy, as I am quite familiar with her work.

The dealer either didn’t recognise it or knew that it was not authentic (there is no characteristic signature) as he certainly was not asking a Catharina Klein price. I paid without hesitation because I had nothing to lose. I would enjoy the picture anyway as it is beautiful.

It came with a Certificate of Authenticity as an ‘Early C20th oil- Bowl of Roses’, which is indisputable because of its appearance. Therefore if it is a copy it was painted at the time Catharina Klein was painting and could possibly be by one of her students.

As I know that many of her original paintings were destroyed or damaged in the two wars I like to think it is an original that has been ‘restored’! There are one or two minor discrepancies, as well as the major one of no signature, between painting and postcard and for me the mystery will continue. . . .

Any ideas?

Catharine Klein postcard
The ‘postkarte’.

Catharina Klein was born in the small town of Eylau to the North East of the Polish border. She moved to Berlin to study and her paintings became popular among the German nobility. Although it is reputed she painted over two thousand pictures including flowers, fruits and birds many of her original paintings have not survived but many prints were made which are featured in books and on postcards. The old Meissner and Buch postcards are perhaps the best way to collect her work.

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