Thursday, March 3, 2011

I Love Chintz!!

I really do love chintz!  I know that the word "chintzy" has a negative connotation, but I love floral anything and there is nothing jammed with more flowers than chintz fabric and pottery!  To me, chintz just means colorful and happy!!  Here is a short history (or maybe it seems like a LONG history!!) of chintz.

 
Chintz is glazed calico cloth printed with flowers and other patterns in different colors. It was originally a woodblock painted or stained calico produced in India from 1600 to 1800 and popular for bed covers, quilts and draperies. Modern chintz usually consists of bright overall floral patterns printed on a light background but there are some popular patterns on black backgrounds as well.

 
Chintz is also pottery covered with a dense, all-over pattern of flowers or other objects. The pattern is applied by transfer printing as opposed to the more traditional method of painting by hand. The main firms making chintz (including Grimwades-trade name Royal Winton) were English and turned out a great variety of chintz dinnerware, teaware, and ornamental pieces mostly in the 1920s to the 1960s. The Royal Winton and James Kent factories began reproducing a few of their chintz patterns again in the mid-to-late 1990s. Royal Winton is still producing chintz today. (excerpted from Wikipedia)

 
I don't have much chintz pottery, but what I have, I really love!    I am setting the table for coffee and a few sweet treats.  Please join me and we can talk about chintz and china and all sorts of "table" things!

 
My FAVORITE pattern is Royal Winton's "Welbeck".  It has a sunshine yellow background with beautiful flowers crowded all over!  I don't have any of this myself (it is too expensive for me), but I do love the pattern.

 
Isn't this square plate just beautiful...
 
And this teapot is just adorable...again that square shape is so pretty
 
Here is my little set...I bought this from a little second-hand store.  It is so pretty and the price was right.  It was just $25 for the entire coffee set for six! 


I love the square-ish shape of these pieces

This is so cute for a little afternoon coffee and sweet treat

These cups are small...almost demitasse size, but we can just refill more often!

Here is a close-up that shows the overall floral pattern...so charming!
 
This feels very pastel and spring-y

Here are the only other chintz pieces that I have
I also have this pretty chintz Old Country Roses teapot which was a gift from my friend Terry...she knows I am a nut for OCR!  That little creamer is from my mother-in-law in England.  It is actually Royal Winton.  The pattern is "June Roses".  It's hard to see, but the background is pale yellow. 
 I don't that that rose colored bowl even counts as chintz, but I love it!

Now for the dish on the dishes...
  • The chintz coffee set was a great find at a second hand store
  • The tablecloth is another that my sister brought to me from Ireland
  • There isn't much in the way of silver, but I used my Oneida "Damask Rose"
  • The flowers are from the grocery store...$9 for the whole bunch of roses!!
  • The dish with the cookies is Limoge...given to me by a very close friend

Hope you enjoyed my "chintz-y" post today!  Thank you for stopping by.  Please visit Susan at "Between Naps on the Porch"(the button is up on the right).  You will see AMAZING tables!

Tess

11 comments:

  1. I love chintz, too! I don't have any, either...I've never been able to narrow in on just one pattern. Thank you for the mini-history on chintz pottery and for stopping by my post. Cherry Kay

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  2. Oh, I sooo love chintz as well. It is funny that it has a negative conotation. I wonder why? You got some amazing bargains. So beautiful.

    - The Tablescaper

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  3. Oh, Tess, this is SO pretty! That first photo of your table is just lovely -- I had to enlarge it to study it! Love that tablecloth you chose -- it's perfect with the feminine chintz dishes!

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  4. Love your "chintz-y" post. I always think a chintz pattern is so fresh and feminine. Pretty "teascape" and look at those yummy cookies. Yum.

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  5. I love all your chintz pieces!!! I have a piece for sale in my Etsy shop, but yours are so much prettier. Thank you for the history of chintz, it is so nice to know more about the pieces other than I love them.

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  6. I love the colorful chintz, but I don't have any at present. The history lesson on chintz pottery was very interesting. I enjoy shopping second hand stores also. What a great find!

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  7. Tess there is a Goodwill in Herkimer but it's very hit or miss. In your travels you can check out the Goodwill website for other locations across the states.

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  8. Chintz is beautiful. I do not have any, but I would if I could afford some!! Good luck on your hunt....have a great weekend.

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  9. Tess, you have a lovely collection of chintz...beautiful tablecloth.

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  10. Hello Tess,
    So lovely of you to stop by and visit, we have so much in common, the love of Old Country Rose
    dishes being just one of them. I have always loved the look of the Royal Winton Chintz pattern, so delicate and feminine.
    You live in a beautiful part of the state, one day I hope to visit the Adirondack Mountains.
    Hope to stop by and visit often !
    Hugs,
    ~Jo

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  11. Very pretty dishes. I have a love for dishes and cats, just like yourself. Looking forward to more posts. Deb=^..^=x5 Ottawa, Canada

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