What’s This?

As I was poking around in my favourite junque shoppe today, I found an interesting piece of blue willow china, which I have been collecting since I moved back to the States. I love the classic combination of that with my beautiful Royal Copenhagen white pieces. 

Anyway… I spotted this piece, but had absolutely no idea what it was. It didn’t have any markings on the bottom, so I couldn’t tell its age, but it looks older than newer, just because of the way the transfer pattern appears.

It stands about seven inches across and about three inches tall. It’s got a center section that’s open, with three raised rests. In the middle of the base of the piece is a “cup” for lack of a better word that looks like it would fit a votive candle. The top of the piece extends over the side, and there are three evenly spaced holes around the side of the piece.

Because the holes are glazed, it seems like they were there when the piece was fired. Their edges are smooth, so that’s another clue that they’re original.

I can’t figure out if there was a lid to the piece, but given the pattern, I am inclined to think that there was. In the picture below, it looks like the three raised sections are indented and it almost looks like it could be an ashtray.

Okay, readers! Any ideas as to what this piece is? I am clueless and open to all suggestions!

Third Anniversary Give-Away: Decorating is Fun

When I started Pigtown*Design three years ago this week, I had recently moved back to Baltimore from Wales and was working for a friend’s family’s firm. His ancient father used to routinely throw pencils at people and call them jerks. Needless to say, it was not a happy and fulfilling environment in which to exercise my creative side. I thought a blog would be a good way to make sure that I spent time sharpening my writing skills and working on my photography skills. Thus, Pigtown*Design was born. As I begin my fourth year writing Pigtown*Design, I am stunned by all that this blog has brought into my life. I have met people whom I would never have known. I have had fun experiences with fellow bloggers. I have learned more than I ever would have imagined. I have seen some truly spectacular photography and read some stunning writing.

To say thanks, I am giving away a copy of “Decorating is Fun”. It is a 1941 edition, so not a first edition. It is in good shape, but does not have the original dust jacket, which is quite different from the one on the re-issue. (This is a mock-up of the original cover I did for a copy of this book that I sent to Marnie at MRR Design.)

If you leave a comment, I will put you into the drawing for a copy of the Decorating is Fun. Connor will draw a name on January 8th, the actual anniversary of my first post. He’s been pretty tuckered out from having his best friend stay here for four days,  but I think that he’ll be sufficiently recovered by then to pick your name!

As always, thank you so much for reading Pigtown*Design.

Jackie O!

For some strange reason, I’ve been seeing (and picking up) a lot of books about Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis at Book Thing recently.  Of course, I said the same thing almost two years ago!Today was no different, with the addition of another book, Lester David’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait of Her Private Years. I also picked up Donald Spoto’s Jacqueline: A Life,  the other week.  One of the books I’ve already read is Just Jackie: Her Private Years by Kennedy family biographer Edward Klein. It’s a lot of inside stories about her life and was very good. Another book that I recently found – I initially bought a copy, and then about two weeks later, I found a copy at Book Thing – is Happy Times, Lee Radziwill’s autobiography, published by Assouline.  This book is especially fascinating for design lovers, as she has numerous images of the houses where she lived, including an amazing “cottage” outside of London. While I was looking for links to these books, I stumbled across this website, devoted to all things Kennedy, by someone living in Italy. He’s got a bibliography of dozens of books about the Kennedy family, here.

Here are some other articles I’ve written about JBKO: Kennedy Weddings.  Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad.  Kennedy Style.  More Kennedy Couture. I am getting quite a collection of books!  If you’re interested in my extra copy of Happy Times, just e-mail me.

By the way, which is your favourite of these pictures of JBKO?

A Winter Walk in the Woods

I took the dogs for a walk in the woods today, and it was brisk and cold. We walk on a trail that wanders along some railroad tracks and follows an old falls, over which soars the oldest stone railroad bridge in the country. It was built in 1829 and still stands.   As I was walking, the words of Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken” kept running through my mind. We kept coming to forks in the road, and we followed the ones with fewer footsteps in the snow. This trail is our newest place to walk. It’s right in the middle of the city, yet you feel a million miles away from everything.  After almost 200 years, these tracks are still in use.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

Happy 2010!

Happy 2010!

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And never brought to mind? 
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear, 
For auld lang syne. 
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld lang syne. 

May 2010 bring you a year filled with happiness and joy!

2009 In Review: It’s All About You!

One of the most rewarding and gratifying things about writing Pigtown*Design is having the chance to meet new people, literally from all over the world. My family has always had a tradition of having friends, or friends of friends come stay with and it’s always an adventure to meet new people, because you never know where it will lead. I just think of the blog as a 21st century version of this.

In March, Chris, the editor of Easy & Elegant Life, and I got together to create April Food Day. With his background in advertising and mine in fundraising, we thought we could pool our talents and raise some money for and awareness about the issue of hunger in America. More than 150 blogs participated by writing a piece on their blog, adding the April Food Day logo and linking to Feeding America, so that people could make donations. We plan to make April Food Day an annual event.I had the opportunity to meet a number of fellow bloggers in September at a lovely party given in honour of Eddie Ross and his partner, Jaithan Kochar, given my My Notting Hill, Michele Ginnerty. Among the guests were including Stefan of Architect Design, Thomas of My White Shirt, Scot of Domicidal Maniac, Janet of JCB, Beth of Style Redux AND Chinoiserie Chic, Jenn at Department of the Interior, Lauren at Pure Style Home, and Terri at Wind Lost who was here from Calgary, Canada. As much fun as the cocktail party was the trip to the Big DC Flea the next day, with Eddie and Jaithan showing us how to search for treasures. Later in September and again in November, I met up with the Historic House Group to tour the historic Hampton Mansion, just outside of Baltimore and two historic houses in Philadelphia. Blogger JCB puts the schedule for these tours together and makes all of the arrangements, which is a tremendous thing to do! In addition to being an educational adventure, it’s also been tons of fun getting to know some of the DC bloggers.In March, I learned to understand the true power of the blogs and who my friends were when many many of you leapt to my defense when some anon commenter made some very nasty remarks about a party I had attended. It all happened on a day when I was away from the computer and when I saw how many people had said such good things about me, I was humbled. (This is Mr. Big… he was my escort to the party!) Of course, the most amazing thing this year was the overwhelming response to the video I posted a week or so ago. My friend, Joni from Cote de Texas posted it and a little story on her blog and we raised more than $5,000 in a week! This meant that the children where I work would have a great Christmas. It’s all a clear indication of the power of blogging and the internets. In addition, this year I was able to meet Valorie from Visual Vamp who was here in Baltimore teaching tango lessons, Marnie from MRR Designs who was here looking at colleges for her daughter, Liz from The Felted Garden who was selling her beautiful felted scarves at the American Crafts Council fair and Alyssa from Coterie, who arrived bearing great books to donate to Book Thing. However,there are many fellow bloggers with whom I regularly communicate and whom I hope to meet in the coming year, including the hilarious and well-dressed Maxminimus, the easy and elegant gent from Easy & Elegant Life, the well-designed M21, the delightful Mrs. Blandings and many others!But the very best thing about this whole blogging adventure is YOU! It is humbling to realize that so many people take the time out of their busy days to spend a little time reading Pigtown*Design, and take even more time to comment or send me an e-mail. There are not words enough to express how much this means to me, and how much it pleases me to know people are reading!

Thank you, as always, for reading Pigtown*Design!

2009 in Review: My Favourites

As I said yesterday, some of the posts that were my favourites, didn’t necessarily seem to be yours, judging from the lack of comments!  The ones I’ve chosen have a more personal resonance with me, which may not translate to you.

In no particular order, here are my favourite posts of 2009.

In September, I did a post called Ten Castles. I realize how lucky I am to have the experience of spending time in places like these castles, especially the amazing St. Donat’s Castle in Wales. The experiences have been vastly different, from working in one to being haunted in another. Each place has a special significance and memory, including Caerphilly Castle where I spent the evening of July 4th. Another touchstone place in the UK is the tiny Kilpeck Church, which I wrote about in July. There’s been a church on this property since 650 AD, and this one has been standing since the mid-1100’s. The carvings around the roofline of the church have always enchanted me, especially the one of the puppy and bunny. It’s timeless. In January, I wrote about my friend Flip’s house, here and here. She’s taken a classic late 1800’s town-house and added her own special touches to the elegant architectural elements. Her style is unique and fun, and many of her pieces come from our friends at Housewerks and other salvagers, including this 12-foot long storage cabinet.

This has been a very rainy year in mid-Atlantic and that resulted in an incredible display of flowers all through the seasons. In May, we visited the famous topiary gardens at Ladew, just outside of Baltimore. In May, I also began seeing peonies at the Farmers’ Market and bought as many as I could. Later in the summer, there were bursts of orange everywhere in the form of day or tiger lilies.

My absolute favourite post this year was called My Heart is Bursting. I still get misty-eyed when I think of the incredible gift from House of Beauty & Culture that arrived in the post one hot July afternoon. As I unwrapped the beautiful, hand-crafted spoons in the French-Ivory pattern I’ve been collecting for years, and realized the thought, attention and love that went into this gift, I realized that I truly have incredible friends. I still have the pictures on my camera because it makes me happy to look at the spoons.

Tomorrow, one more retrospective… and it’s all about you!

2009 In Review: Your Favourites

I think that almost everyone will be so glad to see the last of 2009. It’s been one of those years that has been rough on everyone, including me. Two bad pieces of news for me were getting my hours at work cut to four days a week, with the accompanying pay cut, and having my landlords tell me they were selling the house where I’ve been living.

However, neither of these two things is bad at all when I put them into perspective. I still have a job that I love and I still have a roof over my head, unlike so many other people.

As I was looking back through my nearly 340 posts of 2009, it struck me that some of the posts you liked best, and commented upon the most, were not always my favourites. Here are your top picks, in no particular order:

One post that struck a chord with a lot of people was titled Small World. I had just gotten back in touch with a childhood friend and neighbour, a very talented photographer whose people were from New Orleans, only to find out a few days later that he had been killed in a motorcycle crash. His death hit me harder than I ever would have expected. I wrote about fellow Baltimorean, Billy Baldwin, several times this year. I attended a lecture about Billy Baldwin at Evergreen House (pictured above) in the spring, and found out that we’d grown up just a few blocks from each other and tracked down the house where I think that he lived. Since I was in the neighbourhood, I took some pictures of other houses on the same street, and the one adjoining it. I was lucky enough to find a signed copy of “Billy Baldwin Remembers” at thrift shop where-rich-old-ladies-donate-amazing-things. I suspect that whoever donated the book may have known BB. A few months later, I found “Billy Baldwin Decorates” at the Book Thing. I am pretty sure that I remember it having a faint glow around it!

Another post that generated a lot of comments was one about bloggers having a code of ethics and saying when they’ve received goods or services in exchange for a mention on the blog. As more and more marketing companies realize the influence of bloggers, they are seeking bloggers positive reviews of almost any product, knowing that the bloggers can get the eyeballs that the marketers may miss. If bloggers are up-front about receiving the goods or services they are promoting, it goes a long way towards establishing credibility. I have truly appreciated all of the comments and suggestions I received during the painting project we undertook in our historic 1850’s house at Woodbourne. It’s still not completely finished, with the holidays and the painters being sick, but we hope to have it completed this week. Your ideas and hints were a huge help to us in selecting paint colours and your encouragement went a long way! Another project of mine that generated a lot of comments was the Turgot Plan De Paris, circa 1734 that I found on line and then downloaded, page by page and resized and digitized. It’s really a stunning map and I papered my dining room wall with a copy of it. I think that this map is so interesting because of its incredibly fine detail and scale. There are links to a variety of ways you can download this map here. It was thanks to fellow blogger, The Corinthian Column that I found the map! Tomorrow, I will post my favourite stories from 2009.

 

Thanks, as always, for reading Pigtown*Design! 

Perfect for a Cold Winter’s Night

What I wouldn’t do to have a nice fireplace to curl up in front of, with Connor at my feet and a good book in my lap! When I saw this house with its 17th century exposed beams, stone floors and vaulted ceilings, I thought it would be perfect!  Unfortunately, it’s on the market for £1.15 million, which is a bit out of my current price range. But a girl can dream… Ohhhh… check out the kitchen with the red Aga stove!Not so wild about the rest of the house, which you can peruse here.

The Queen’s Christmas Speech 2009

Another tradition that I observe is listening, and now watching, Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas speech to her subjects, both in the UK, and scattered around the countries of the Commonwealth.

As always, this year’s speech was wide ranging, touching on topics as varied as the war in Afghanistan and the current state of the environment.

However, the best part of the speech is the playing of “God Save the Queen” on the steel drums in Jamaica. It’s worth watching the video just to see this!