HISTORY & NOTES:
Johnson Brothers began their pottery in 1883 and became one of the major high quality works in England, eventually (in 1968) becoming part of the Wedgwood Group of companies.
This chinaware (semi-porcelain) is yet another of our beautiful "breakfast & afternoon tea" sets which were passed down to us through the generations, originally purchased in the 1950's, just after "The War" by my parents living in England at the time.
The second world war had just been "finished with" and people were looking for things to make them feel good, brighten up their lives after all the trauma fighting with the "Huns" (a carry over expression from the Brit description of the "foe" in World War I)
"Cherry Blossoms" was a perfect pattern back then, representing "new life, new opportunities"
Since those days 70 years ago we used this chinaware just a few times for those "special breakfasts", particularly around Springtime and the condition of the pieces reflects this ... they have been well cared for and seen very little use!
Our family have always called these the "Cherry Blossoms" although that pattern name is not on any of the pieces, there is no pattern indicated on any piece except these egg cup saucers which are quite frankly a bit of a mystery to us ... read my description below for more details.
One of the major china replacement suppliers does show this pattern (no longer available alas) and indicate it is what they call pattern number JB734. We think this is THEIR pattern code and not that of Johnson Brothers.
If you would like to take a look at the "replacements" website, please go HERE
ALL decoration (artwork and gilding) is handcrafted with no transfers used at all
This advertisement is for the EGG CUP & SMALL SAUCER SET ONLY .... but HERE you can see a selection of the other pieces that we have left
DLAT RATING: 9/10 (Darling, Look At This!)
JOHNSON BROTHERS - Egg cup & matching saucer set ONLY
Made In England
DIMENSIONS:
Two pieces, egg cup and the egg cup saucer
EGG CUP: 47mm diameter x 43mm height
EGG CUP SAUCER: 80mm diameter
Pattern: Cherry Blossoms (JB734)
Weight: 100g (both pieces together)
GENUINE and ORIGINAL
Hand decorated/painted - this is how this pattern was ORIGINALLY created, don't be fooled by replacements using transferware techniques, these originals have become quite collectable and "rip offs" abound because the counterfeiter can make good money
Circa 1940's ~ 1950's
Opaque (meaning that when held to the light, you CANNOT see shadows of your hand through the china) This is not "fine bone china" but nor is it "stoneware" and Johnson Brothers used to call this their "semi-porcelain"
Two tone base colouring - Natural Cream colour and a light Grey colouring with a slightly darker Grey band between the two colours. This two-tone finish is only on the outside of the egg cup and topside of the matching saucer. the inside and undersides are completely Cream.
The artwork spans both areas of colour.
Cherry Blossom (OUR pattern name as it is not indicated on the piece) is a pattern dominated by a motif of gentle Pink blossom flowers with fresh Green leaves on a Brown tree branch. There are two separate pieces of artwork.
Gold gilding (heavily applied by hand) has been applied around the outside rims and inside the egg cup.
BACKSTAMP DETAILS:
EGG CUP: Impressed into the clay (difficult to read)
ENGLAND
EGG CUP SAUCER: Green stamp with artist and gilder's markings
Notice that the Johnson Bros backstamp does NOT appear in the backstamp although the artwork design is identical to the other pieces (artwork and gilding markings) The Green stamp is extremely difficult to read, ENGLAND is clear enough but the first word (flowing writing) COULD be Medora or Medoia or neither of those! I have searched to see if anyone had something similar online but absolutely no information could be found nor a pattern name similar to that word. Our only 'random' thought was that the egg cup and saucer blanks came from another works and were decorated by Johnson Brothers.
COSMETIC CONDITION:
NO cracks
NO chips
NO discolouration
NO crazing observed (both wet and dry tests)
NO artwork damage/scratching or significant wear
But nothing that is over 70 years old is perfect! (Not even my Mum at 86 years old!)
We have TWO sets available, one was used more than the other ....
Set A is near perfect, just the lightest of Gold gilding wear around the rim
Set B is less than perfect, with some wear to the Gold gilding around the rim. This line is thin to start with but on this egg cup it is (in places) very thin. Even with this wear it is not easy to see because the gilding has been applied around the SIDE of the rim, not on the top lip.
SPECIAL INFORMATION:
We have a number of different pieces of our Cherry Blossom pattern available. Each piece is advertised separately BUT if purchasing more than one, and total order value conditions are met, discounted prices apply automatically when the code CHERRYBLOSSOM is used in the checkout area of the website.
