Whiteware

It's Show and Tell Friday over at http://romantichome.blogspot.com/ and I think I will share some whiteware that I have. I guess you call it whiteware.... it's white. Or it was white pottery, but with age (and I am talking about quite a few years here) the finish tends to get tiny cracks in it and the dish begins to turn brown. But, I love each piece and can't imagine not having them.

This covered bowl belonged to my Mother and I remember it just about as long as I can remember anything. She'd dry apple slices on a tin in the hot sun and store them for making fried apple pies. When the dried apples were cooked she sweetened them and stored them in this bowl until she was ready to make dough for the pies. Sweet, sweet memories lie deep in this bowl.

This pitcher belonged to my great-grandmother. I was told that after my great-grandmother died, my grandmother found this pitcher in a shed filled with dirt and dead flowers. It hurt her to see something that had been used in their home, while she was growing up, put to such abuse. She brought it home with her and I eventually became the owner.

This is a small platter, edged with that aging brown, but I remember it white and piled high with fried apple pies that my Mother had made.

Another white platter, this one large. I admired this platter that a friend had dug up in the woods and she gave it to me. The mark on the back is Staffordshire, England. I had it appraised once and was told that it most likely had been hidden in the ground during the civil war. The excellent condition it is in indicates that it has not been used extensively. It dates from just before the Civil War. It has a place of distinction on top of an old handmade wooden cupboard that my grandmother started housekeeping with before the turn of the century. (the 20th century.... not the current one)