Stories

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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?

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.