#Tea Leaf

I love Tea Leaf ironstone china, and recently a close friend of mine wrapped up and gave me his and his late wife's collection.

I could not be more thrilled, having always had a very soft spot for Tea Leaf.

If you do not follow #adirondack girl @ heart, and you are a collector, you are missing out. I believe you will enjoy her insight and ideas.

I have started to sort my new collection. Some will go in the cupboard, other pieces will go on a shelf my husband is installing. The broken pieces will either go on display or in my garden.

#tealeafclub.com

For more information about Tea Leaf, you might enjoy the tealeafclub.com

The Tea Leaf Club is dedicated to the study and collection of Tea Leaf Ironstone China and its Variants, produced in England and America from the mid-19th century through the early 1900s. The Club boasts hundreds of members from almost every state in the union, as well as from Canada, who collect, study, love, and appreciate the simple beauty and endurance of Tea Leaf Ironstone China. Beginning in the 1840's, English potters began to ship white ironstone ceramic ware to the U.S., decorated with copper lustre bands and/or simple motifs, made exclusively for the American market. Anthony Shaw is considered to have produced the original Tea Leaf motif on his Sydenham, Niagara Fan and Chinese Shape body styles, registered in 1856. These are the first of over 150 body styles decorated with the Tea Leaf motif by dozens of English and American potters. These talented potters continued to furnish this beautiful copper lustre decorated white ironstone to the Americas until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1980, some 130 years after its American introduction, a group of Tea Leaf collectors from ten states gathered in Springfield, Illinois to formally organize the Tea Leaf Club International. TLCI is made up of enthusiasts who collect, study and love Tea Leaf Ironstone China.