Tea Cup Tuesdays: Week 4

This little group of dishes is a collection comprised of a dish I found in a rural Nova Scotia vintage china shop (called Perry's, if I recall correctly, and very much in the middle of nowhere), a similar covered dish given to me by my grandmother, and a handcrafted silver spoon purchased by my husband (at my request! to fit the dish!) on a Swiss business trip around 15 years ago.

I love how the flowers on them look like watercolor painting, and the texture of the raised gilt paint accenting and outlining the colors. Both are stamped with the same green stamp and labeled "Handpainted" and "Nippon", which gives a clue to age. They were probably made between 1891 and 1921 (at which point "Japan" became the more accepted name for country of origin). I've a number of pieces that all date to around the same era, picked up here and there, and I love them for their delicate decoration, and gorgeous paintwork. It's one of my favorite groups of collectibles.