Lovely Lady-Like Coffee Service

This is a gorgeous 19 piece Formal Coffee Service of ceramic ware, made by my aunt, L.L.Liles in 1962. That means in two years the set will be 50 years old. Amazing how it made it into 2010 with no dings, breaks, cracks, or stains. Only the lid to the teapot has crazing. It was obviously well cared for and she would be proud that it was still in such great condition.

Let's begin with the large Coffee Pot. It measures almost a foot high and is 12 3/4" across from handle to the spout! The Pot is accented in gold and has those exceptional little feet on the bottom. All the pieces have these features. It's big party size! I would guess it holds about a gallon of coffee!

Because of the lighting they all look creamy white, however, in daylight they are really white. The huge teapot measures 9" tall with the bulging bottom 6" in diameter. It's 12" from handle to spout. I photographed it next to the EAPG regular sized salt and pepper shakers for a size reference.

I guess you can get an idea of size for the lidded Sugar Bowl and fancy creamer by the EAPG platter the pots were on and again the salt and pepper shakers. I love the lids on this set because they are so easy to handle. I guess that made it much easier to survive the years. See, they have the little feet too.
A Cup & Saucer together stands a whopping 4.5" tall. The diameter of the cups is 4" across. It's in the diameter that you can tell they were handmade. Not that it is ready visible but if you look down on them all you can see they are a little bit unevenly round. I guess where she held them to paint the gold accents on.
There are six Cups & Saucers. The cups as well as the saucers have those cute little feet! (Easier to see in the previous picture) The gold accents really show up on the saucers and the handles have plenty of room to get your finger inside. The cups are very thin and lightweight. I like that feature as well.
Certainly a lot of work went into this set, but I know Sister had a wonderful time making it and caring for it to hand it down. Little did she know that times would change and women wouldn't be so involved with high tea and fancy things after fast food took over! She would flip to know that you can buy a whole Thanksgiving meal at the grocery store with beautiful disposable servingware to accompany it.

Creative Spring Genes

In the next few posts I will be laying groundwork to familiarize you with a few of the creative people in my family, and the heirlooms I've aquired. Am filled with lovely childhood memories surrounded by all of the gorgeous things my mother and aunts gathered, collected, meticulously cared for, and creatively made by hand. However, I have no room for them all... i.e., they literally cannot be contained!

Before many of these heirlooms are sold and pass to other owners, I want to make a photographic journal of their careful collections, and creative exploits; to record for myself and remaining family a virtual scrapbook of sorts. If we can't keep all of the items, at least we will have stories and photos that accompany some of them. "Ah...lest we forget."

In doing this... I hope you, the reader, will better understand some of the items I'm listing at AngeeArt on Etsy which now contains a gallery of vintage and antique. If you find anything you have an affinity for within these photos, (not listed there)...let me know and I'll make a listing there especially for you.

SISTER...
LUCILLE
LeMASTER LILES
My Aunt Lucy (we called her Sister) loved creating anything ceramic. She gave us all ceramic gifts as they formed from her hands, and sprouted from her kiln. I've consumed many a cup of coffee from mugs with her stamp on the bottom. But this was not her only passion, she also collected antiques, was a recorded country song writer, sang harmony with my mother and me, published a book of poetry, and crocheted up a storm in her off time.

After "Sister" retired from Kraft Foods, (she was a nutritionist in the cafeteria at the plant in Atlanta) she moved from Georgia to Florida to be close to my mom and our family. My mother's oldest sister, she was 23 and married, when my mother the baby of the family was born. Mama always called her Sister. Unable to have her own children, Lucy (as her friends called her) sorta "adopted" and raised my mom. After my brothers and I were born, she pretty much functioned all of our lives, as grandmother. My youngest brother was the only one who didn't call her Sister... he called her "Grammy." (my grandmother died when mom was 18)

So, in 1974, Sister brought all of her entire household of antiques from Atlanta, rented a little house in a non-residential area, and sold them all, except those rare, unusual wonders she loved. When she died in 1985 at the age of 84, all of her unfinished ceramics, crochet booties, extensive antique collections, old china, and remaining antique furniture... passed to my mother.

Keep watch! There are many more things to come, some of which I will need the world's help to identify and establish value. I'd hate to sell something for $5 that's worth $5,000.

March to a Different Drummer

March means getting ready for Easter. I'm working on marzipan filled vanilla chicks and sweet chocolate fondant bunnies at Visualicious.

March came in like a cold lion and I hope it goes out like a warm, wooly lamb. I want to plant seeds and see them sprout.

March marks the first birthday I could not give my mother a gift. Her birthday was yesterday. That's a hard thing. But, I still have four close friend's to celebrate b-days with this month. It's a blessing they were born.

March will be the month I add vintage things left by my mother to my AngeeArt shop. My house smells like hers since I brought her things here. Some of the items she made, some I made for her, some things were made by my aunt, others I made for my aunt that mom inherited when she died. Most are vintage handmade and, a good majority are antiques. We were and are a creative family. Just don't have room for everything and... I'm tired of stepping over the memories. I hope to add photos of some of the more unusual things and share their stories here.

Blessings.