Old Britain Castles Blue Teacup

Hi there – It’s Teacup Tuesday! And as the title of this post implies, this week we’re talking about the “Old Britain Castles Blue” teacup! Here’s my original Instagram post, as always. (If you’re just joining us and want some background, have a peek at this post.)

Teacup Tuesday 16 JUL 2019

Happy Teacup Tuesday Everyone! How about this little demitasse gem?! I saw it last spring at an amazing antique shop on the Long Beach Peninsula and had to snap it right up. (Along with a few other teacups, but who’s counting?) And aren’t these colors lovely together? So soft and sweet – perfect for a baby shower, I was thinking. So if someone I know could have a baby please, I’ll be happy to throw you a party! Hope you have a lovely day – party or not!

Old Britain Castles Blue Teacup Tidbits

As you now know, something about this lovely little demitasse cup made me think of a baby shower. Paired with the pale pink, the color scheme would be so perfect.

I can just imagine a creamy white-painted covered porch. I’d drape the tables in this lovely soft pink jacquard, and decorate with satin ribbon. As well as decorating the tables, we could wind some ribbon with some twinkly string lights in the rafters. So when the sun goes down, we’ll have a fairy tale satin sparkle! We could have some pink or purple tulips too, and white candles.

In addition to our beautiful Old Britain Castles blue teacup, we’d have the dessert plates from the set. Perfect for a light delicious cake to celebrate baby’s arrival!

Manufacturer’s Info

This Old Britain Castles blue teacup is produced by Johnson Brothers pottery. The company was started, as you might imagine, by four brothers, the sons of Mr & Mrs Johnson! As they were also the grandsons of famous potter Alfred Meakin, they might have come by their talent naturally. One of the brothers moved to New York and introduced the pattern to America. His efforts there also helped the company weather World War II, as the English had cut back on their china purchases during war time.

This is the “Carisbrooke Castle in 1792” pattern in the Old British Castles series. Each piece has one of 45 different castles, shown as they would have looked in the 1700s. Apparently, a woman named Miss Fennel was the artist for this series. She was another child of an industry superstar, a master engraver. She used photographs from books and older engravings to create this lovely design.

Johnson Brothers started making this pattern in 1930. Although they made it in England for over 60 years, they moved production to China in 2003. Waterford Wedgwood eventually purchased the company. Then Fiskars purchased them, and discontinued production of the Johnson Brothers brand in 2015. As you can see by the markings, our cup is made is England, and it’s microwave safe! We didn’t have microwaves before the late sixties, so my china-dating super powers indicate that our cup was made between 1967 and 2003.

More Johnson Brothers info HERE. And if you’re becoming as obsessed about this stuff as I am, HERE too!

Old Britain Castles Blue Teacup ~ Behind the Scenes

I had a heck of a time with this background! Even though I had a perfect vision in my head of soft pink texture, I just couldn’t make the fabric do what I wanted. I did lots of different variations and tried tossing the ribbon into the scene in various ways. As you can see above, a couple tries were not very interesting!

I eventually draped the fabric over a patio chair. That way I could lean the cup and saucer against the back, and still have some interest in the foreground. After many tries, (some quite humorous!) the drape of the ribbon finally worked. At least the light was good all along!

I hope you enjoyed our little Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles Blue demitasse teacup! And if you need a baby shower, just let me know!

Teacup Shopping

If you love teacups as much as I do and want to start or add to your collection, Click HERE for the Shopping Page. Then click on the picture of the teacup. There are lots and lots of gorgeous cups and saucers ~ you might find the ones that are perfect for you!

WARNING – Some of the teacups and saucers on the shopping page have separate listings. Be sure you’re ordering what you want!

Have a Lovely Teacup Tuesday!