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 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)
Since those days 70 years ago we used this chinaware just a few times for those "special occasions" and the condition of the pieces reflects this ... they have been well cared for!
We have always called these the "Cherry Blossoms" although that pattern name is not on any of the pieces, there is no pattern indicated except the egg cup saucers which are quite frankly a bit of a mystery to us ... read my description specific to the egg cup set HERE for details about this mystery!
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 STANDARD SAUCER ONLY .... but HERE you can see a selection of the other pieces that we have left
DLAT RATING: 7/10 (Darling, Look At This!)
JOHNSON BROTHERS - Saucer ONLY
Made In England
DIMENSIONS:
Shape: Round, scalloped edges
Diameter: 143mm
Height: 22mm
Pattern: Cherry Blossoms (JB734)
Weight: 150g
GENUINE and ORIGINAL
Hand decorated/painted - this is an original creation with the artist and gilder markings clearly visible on the underside of the base. 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 inside of the bowl (band) and the underside is 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 three separate pieces of artwork, one is dominant with the other two being smaller designs.
Gold gilding (heavily applied by hand) is around the top scalloped rim only, classy but not gaudy!
BACKSTAMP DETAILS:
Green/Blue stamp with artist and gilder's markings
COSMETIC CONDITION:
We currently have five saucers, the following information relates to ALL saucers and any flaws I have noticed are noted after this main report
NO cracks
NO chips
NO discolouration to the artwork
NO artwork damage/scratching or significant wear
NO wear or damage observed to the Gold gilding at all - very nice!
But nothing that is over 70 years old is perfect! (Not even my Mum at 86 years old!)
Amazing appearance when first viewed but these saucers ALL have these issues ...
CRAZING: Although none of the other pieces of our Cherry Blossom breakfast/teaset has crazing, for some reason ALL of these saucers have LIGHT surface crazing to the top AND underneath. The crazing is not severe and needs to be viewed in sunlight or when the saucer is wet but it is there none-the-less.
The crazing (surface cracking of the glaze finish) appears to be surface only as there are no signs of dirt or bacterial ingress which would be evident by discolouring or "brownish stains" - there is none of that!
FLEABITES: Every saucer has a fleabite, very small but it's there none-the-less. One saucer has two! Again these are not very noticeable but they are there and easily discovered with a rub of the finger.
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.
