Cats. Boys. Little sheep in various forms. Feathers. I did have three horses, but I'm down to one. And that's about it, since long ago I stopped going to auctions and flea markets.
However, I now seem to be working on a collection of bird plates.
I never understood the idea of collecting plates. If you can't eat off of them, what good are they? They're hard to display. And really, bird plates? Does anyone else in the world care about birds as much as I do? Probably not. But I'm going to show some to you anyway.
Johnson Brothers of England, Game Birds, "Quail"
I also have "Woodcock"
and "Ruffed Grouse." The Collectors Weekly had this to say about the Johnson Brothers:
Brothers Henry, Alfred, and Frederick Johnson purchased a bankrupt pottery works in the Staffordshire area of England in 1882, and began producing a material known as 'semi-porcelain,' which looked like china, but was durable like ironstone. Their most famous patterns, 'Old Britain Castles' and 'Historic America' were immensely popular in England and America. After WWII, the company struggled, but managed to modernize, and in 1968 joined the Wedgwood Group.
Since I already had three bird plates (a collection), it only made sense that I would want some small dessert plates I found while shopping at Marshalls with my sister before Christmas. I didn't go absolutely crazy over them. Really. Except maybe when my sister picked them up and put them in her shopping cart and said she was buying them for me for Christmas. And maybe I was a little excited when I opened the box on Christmas day, and saw that there were four, which I didn't remember.
It says on the back that they are fine bone china. Whatever that is. I hope no actual bones were used in the making of them.
So I guess I'm a Collector now. And someday I'm going to eat actual food off of these plates instead of letting them collect dust.
