🌺 Morning Glory Magic Creamer Jug by SHELLEY 🌺
🌺 The Morning Glory Magic Creamer Jug 🌺
🌺 This little jug is a miniature masterpiece, designed to accompany a coffee cup (a demitasse set) or perhaps to serve cream for an individual tea service. It stands on its own tiny pedestal, looking very important despite its petite size!
🌺 Morning Glory Magic 🌺
The decoration is what truly makes this creamer sing! The pattern features large, joyful bell-shaped flowers that look like Morning Glories.
They are painted in rich, generous splashes of vibrant pink and heavenly blue, spreading out across the cream-white china.
The stems and leaves are rendered with a lovely, hand-painted lightness, giving the whole piece an air of an impromptu sketch from a botanist's notebook.
🌺 A Touch of Sky 🌺
Notice the dash of bright sky-blue painting the handle! This final flourish, a signature of Shelley's hand-painted finishing, gives the piece a cheerful, contemporary pop, linking the handle to the blue flowers dancing on its body.
This piece speaks of a time when even the smallest vessel was treated as a canvas for beauty. It captures the spirit of the Arts and Crafts movement melding with the early 20th-century taste for naturalistic, painterly florals—a sweet whisper of a forgotten summer's day.
🌺 The 1930s Birth 🌺
While some "Morning Glory" variations appeared in earlier years, this specific blue & pink Morning Glory set (Pattern 2201) is most famously associated with the late 1930s, particularly around 1938.
There is a tiny bit of paint missing on the brown stem. Please see photos.
All items are in vintage and antique preloved condition. Some minor surface scratches may be present. I do my best to note and photograph any wear. Please contact me with any further questions :)
Please Note: There could be small imperfections, including stray decorator marks, tiny areas of missing glaze, little rough spots, etc. This is not damage as production techniques were not quite as professional as they are today and are considered as part of their charm :)
The story of magical Shelley China
🍄 The Wileman Whistle-Stop (The Beginning)
Our story begins way back in the mid-19th century, in the swirling mists of Staffordshire, England, the very heart of the potteries. The Wileman family, owners of the Foley works, were already dabbling in lovely earthenware. But in 1860, they decided a new, finer venture was needed. They built a second pottery, sparkling clean and ready to make the most delicate china!
Enter Joseph Ball Shelley in 1862. He wasn't a potter, mind you—he was a travelling salesman, a man with the gift of the gab and a pocketful of dreams. Joseph worked his magic, and soon enough, he was running the fine china side of the business and became James Wileman's partner, leading to the grand name of Wileman & Company in 1872.
🌟 The Triumph of the Teacup Titan (Percy Takes the Stage)
When Joseph's son, Percy Shelley, bounded into the company in 1881, things really took a whimsical turn. Percy had a vision! He didn't just want good china; he wanted exquisite china. He became the sole proprietor in 1896, and for fifty glorious years, he was the conductor of this ceramic orchestra.
Percy was a magnet for talent. He brought in the very best artists and designers, and the pieces they created were pure joy.
The "Dainty" Shape: Oh, the Dainty shape! Introduced in 1896, it was the delicate darling of the catalogue—so thin, so light, you’d swear it was made by fairies. It had a scalloped rim and a fluttery grace, becoming Shelley’s signature look.
A Splash of Art Deco: But Percy wasn't one to sit still. In the roaring 1920s and 30s, the china embraced the Art Deco craze! Shapes like 'Vogue,' 'Queen Anne,' and 'Mode' emerged with bold, angular handles and zippy geometric patterns—the jazz age of teacups!
Nursery Nonsense: And for the little ones? They hired the illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell to conjure up Boo-Boo Pixies and charming children's ware. Imagine a teapot shaped like a bathing tent! Pure, unadulterated fun.
🛡️ The Name Game and the Shield
For a long time, the company’s name was still Wileman & Co., but their trade name was often "Foley China" (after the area). Alas, a little kerfuffle arose—another pottery was using "Foley" too! So, in 1910, Percy started to use the glorious name Shelley on his china, placing it inside a distinct shield—a badge of honour for their delicate wares. They officially became Shelley Potteries Ltd. in 1925, and the world of collectors breathed a collective, happy sigh.
💔 The Final Curtain (A Fond Farewell)
Shelley's bone china was famous for its "eggshell" lightness, its vivid patterns, and its export success, especially after the war years. It was a time of floral fancies and vibrant chintz patterns, adorning tables all over the world.
But alas, even the prettiest pottery must face the march of time. In the late 1950s, the big conglomerates arrived, modernizing and producing cheaper wares. Shelley, with its dedication to expensive, high-quality bone china, found the going tough.
In 1966, the company was sold to Allied English Potteries, and soon after, production stopped. The factories were sadly demolished.
And so, the Shelley story concludes, not with a crash, but with a gentle clink of a teacup being set down. No new pieces are made, but their legacy lives on! Every dainty saucer, every vibrant Art Deco cup, is a little time-travelling treasure, reminding us of the days when Percy Shelley made the world a more colourful, more beautifully decorated place.