As you know by now I am a fan of Emma Bridgewater pottery. I don't collect any particular pattern because I like to mix and I tend to go for mugs, jugs, bowls and a few odd plates. I mainly use the mugs and bowls because my everyday china is blue and white Spode and that too is a mix of patterns. All my best china is packed away in cupboards and I rarely use it.
A few years ago I bought a Pinks mug for nostalgic reasons. I love Pinks because they remind me of my grandmother who used to grow them in her cottage garden in Pembrokeshire, bunch them and take a basket of them to market in Haverfordwest. When I see Pinks I think of Gran, so I just couldn't resist this on line Studio Special. I bought it for the normal price of around £11 and used it constantly. Then I worried that I might break it so I bought another one as a backup and it is the only duplicate I have.
So I had very mixed feelings last week when this mug sold for £109.77 on eBay -
Of course there is no guarantee that another Pinks mug would fetch that price again. This is a particularly fine one with tiny blue dots which mine don't have, though mine are both nicely hand sponged. My delimma is should I still use them or should I put them on the display shelf?
A few years ago I bought a Pinks mug for nostalgic reasons. I love Pinks because they remind me of my grandmother who used to grow them in her cottage garden in Pembrokeshire, bunch them and take a basket of them to market in Haverfordwest. When I see Pinks I think of Gran, so I just couldn't resist this on line Studio Special. I bought it for the normal price of around £11 and used it constantly. Then I worried that I might break it so I bought another one as a backup and it is the only duplicate I have.
So I had very mixed feelings last week when this mug sold for £109.77 on eBay -
Of course there is no guarantee that another Pinks mug would fetch that price again. This is a particularly fine one with tiny blue dots which mine don't have, though mine are both nicely hand sponged. My delimma is should I still use them or should I put them on the display shelf?
6 comments:
I would use them! And I would pull out all of that 'best' china, and use it, too! You should enjoy your beautiful things! Unless you have crazy cats, dogs, or children running around wild, then keep it all up high and safe! lol
Hello Mary , Oh my goodness what a price ! As you love them, I would keep them or at least keep one and put the other on Ebay? I absolutely LOVE your wedding quilt and even more so that it has taken years to complete. I am someone who gets easily distracted and I want to do and try everything !! Lovely Blog !! Jenny
As you know I now have hundreds and hundreds of pieces of Bridgewater dating right back to her beginnings and use it all the time (I have no other). I keep the most valuable at the top of the dresser assuming it will seldom get used and the more recent pieces lower down. I do NOT check Ebay for prices as it would scare me when the g/kids grab a mug. Enjoy the best now. Why save it/sell it for someone else to enjoy? You only live once - and not for long. xx
There is probably a way of getting it valued if you really want to. I'm wondering whether those blue dots signify a major difference in value. My partner is a bookseller, and he is always finding that people get muddled up when trying to value first editions and such because they don't know the finer points of how it all works. There are probably communities online for discussing fine china where people could help you work out the value.
Alternatively, just stop worrying and use it! £110 is a scary amount if you drop it, but realistically it's not enough to be worth fussing about if you weren't planning to sell it anyway. It's when you discover there's another couple of zeros on the end that it becomes more of an issue, which I think happened to my mother with an old seder plater of hers (for Passover).
In other news, I loved the wedding quilt! I am in the throes of my first Welsh wholecloth, though not my first Welsh quilt. I am busy marking up the full-size paper pattern at the moment, and trying to work out what will be the best way to secure the fabric to it for tracing. Tape them both to the floor and go crazy with the safety pins?
Yes Elettaria you are right about the blue dots, they are extra something that make it rare - I shall have to get the blue pencil out! Actually I intend to go on using them and have no inclination to sell. I am a china hoarder but do occasionally send things to the charity shop to clear some space.
Good luck with the Welsh quilt!
use them and love them... thats what they were made for xx
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