Teatime Tête-à-Tête ~ Tea on a Tray

Welcome to Tea on a Tray Blog Hophosted by Katherine @ Katherine's Corner.Join me for my tea time and a littleTête-à-Tête about French faience.

If you popped over from Dinner At Eight, welcome!I know you enjoyed my friend, Sandra's, delightful tea.

I'm a collector at heart, and dishes are one of my passions.I wanted to share these special ceramics with you incase you are new to Quimper and French faience.

My mother-in-law gave me my first pieces of Quimper soon after I married her son.We were out shopping, and I happened to notice two small plates with charming peasants.  She bought them for me, and my love of Quimper pottery grew in the years to come.  The pair hang on our kitchen wall.

I would pickup new pieces on the rare occasion, never knowing the history of this charming hand painted French pottery until a group of girlfriends gave me the antique inkwell shown above.  I quickly learned that this special pottery, made from the local clay around Quimper, France and decorated with a tin oxide glaze, has been produced for over 300 years.  Tin glazed earthenware is much like Dutch Delft and Italian Majolica.The marks on the inkwell and the chamberstick date to 1922.The fan vase is from the late 1800s.

Once I began to research Quimper, my love of antiques led me to seriously collecting Quimper pottery along with other French faience hand made and hand painted in the countryside of France.

I chose this sweet set of HB Quimper cups and saucers 

especially for our tea tray today.

My motto is, "Pull out the good stuff and use it!"

The HB Quimper mark dates these pieces to the late 1800s.

Though there were many designs produced on Quimper pottery, 

the peasant design that features the Breton (male) and Bretonne (woman) is ubiquitous with Quimper pottery.

The charm of this pottery is that each piece is still 

hand painted by artisans in the town of Quimper, France.

The predominant color is French blue  

with touches of yellow, red, and green, so I chose 

blue as the theme to carry on through with my tea tray.

I used a large blue damask napkin 

to cover the white wicker tray, 

and included individual linen cocktail napkins 

with French blue dots.

Blueberry muffins were made in 

paper cups that repeat the dot pattern.

Adding a paper doily always elevates the presentation.

I've made these fresh blueberry muffins especially for you!

I filled one of my Mother's glass baskets with fresh 

blueberries in case you want to nibble on a few.

The vintage silver plate tea pot holds boiling hot water.

Vintage silver and mother of pearl tea strainer spoons

hold Mariage Fréres Marco Polo tea leaves 

as the hot water is poured into the cup.

One can let it steep to the desired strength.

Aren't these the cutest sugar cubes?

One lump or two?

The muffins are made with fresh blueberries 

and cornmeal, which adds interesting texture.

You can find this yummy recipe here.

Thank you for joining me today.  

If you have any questions about Quimper pottery, please ask.

I hope you will take a minute to leave a comment before you

hop over to JT Wisdom's @ Bubbling With Elegance and Grace to join her teatime.  

Tea Time Blog Hop

I trust you are enjoying all the delightful teatime posts.

Again, a special "thank you" to  Katherine @ Katherine's Corner 

for hosting our "Tea on a Tray" blog hop.

Joining

Love Your Creativity @ Life and Linda  Sundays on Silverado @ House on Silverado 

You're the Star @ Electric Red Barn  Inspire Me Monday @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia   

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life Tuesday Turnaround @ My Wee Abode

All About Home @ Common Ground  Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop @ Electric Red Barn
Share Your Style @ French Ethereal  Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner Charming Homes and Gardens @ Shiplap and Shells  Embracing Home and Family @ The Everyday Farmhouse   Farmhouse Friday @ The Painted Hinge