Dishes from Emma Curtis Rand

The dishes described below now belong to her descendants.

The dishes in the first group belong to Claire, a great-great granddaughter.  The comments are primarily quotes from Claire.

A story I recalled my grandfather telling me about a large stack of the china having been dropped on the floor at dinner and broken (as told by my Aunt Sue) ... "The person who dropped the plates was George Rand- father of Emma Rand Richardson.  According to my mother, and her mother Emma, he found when he sat down to the table to serve dinner that the top plate was dirty and he picked them all up and dropped them on the floor."

	Blue Delft Bowl		The British registration symbol on the back of this piece dates it to September of 1871.  It was given to me on my wedding day by my grandparents.  They told me that it was a piece from Charlotte Richardson Ely's much-loved blue and white china collection.  However since it dates to 1871, I believe it must have originally belonged to Julia Avery Rand and was then passed on to Emma Rand, then on to Charlotte Richardson.
In 1989, this bowl was sitting in a place of honor on the top shelf of an open china hutch when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck northern California.  I can remember hanging onto my baby son in the doorframe of the dining area, watching all my beautiful china flying out and crashing onto the floor, before my husband grabbed us and pulled us outside.  When the shaking stopped, the first thing I did was to go back in to see if this bowl had survived.  Almost everything was out of the hutch and had shattered on the floor.  But I looked up at the top shelf and there was this bowl, teetering part way over the edge! I reached up and just at the exact moment when I got my fingers around the rim, we were hit with a large aftershock!  I held onto it tight and it made it through.  I have always felt like my grandmothers must have been watching over this bowl!  I went out and bought an enclosed china hutch after that and have since replaced all that was lost in the earthquake.
	Blue Delft Plate		This piece dates to September 1871 and is part of the same set as the bowl above.  I inherited this plate from my grandparents.
			The marks on both the Blue Delft bowl and plate are exactly the same and read Sept 1871.  It is read like this- At the top of the symbol is an IV in a circle.  That just means ceramics.  In the left corner of the diamond is a number 2, that is a batch number.  In the right corner of the diamond is a letter A, for 1871.  In the bottom corner of the of the diamond is a letter D for September.  In the top corner of the diamond is what appears to be a number 10 for the day.  It is hard to read on both pieces.

	Blue Delph Plate		(note the spelling difference)  This too came from Charlotte Richardson's collection.  My Aunt Sue recalls that her grandmother Emma Rand was given pieces of English china from an Uncle Frank who frequently traveled abroad.  [Probably Frank Richardson, brother of Emma's husband Charles Augustus Richardson.]  This may have been one of those pieces.  I inheirited this bowl from my grandparents.
			This piece has a later registration number, rather than the earlier registration symbols.  It was made by a different manufacturer than the other two pieces.  EBJEL is for Bourne & Leigh Ltd in Burselem England.  It is marked with a British registration number- Reg. No. 343551.  The first number is extremely faint, but it looks like it dates from a range of 1895 to 1900.

	Blue Clover Plate		This is an unnamed blue clover pattern by New Wharf Pottery.  New Wharf Pottery was only in business from 1878 to 1894.  So we know these pieces date to that time.  I need to check with Sue Ely Moore to see if these were her mothers.  If so, they would likely have belonged to Emma Rand, judging by the date the company was in business.
	Blue Clover Bowl

	Small Blue Onion Bowl
			It is only marked "Made in Germany".

	Blue Onion Plate		Here is a basket weave Blue Onion plate, I think my sister has one like this. (www.antique-china-porcelain-collectibles.com) ... produced by the renowned German porcelain factory of Meissen.  This piece is reticulated on the rim, and bears the famous blue onion pattern on the front.  The Meissen crossed swords mark can be found on the bottom of the piece ... .
			It has the crossed swords and also a number 2 impressed in it, a number 28 impressed, a tiny symbol of some sort impressed and a number 28 painted. See Meissen Porcelain Marks and The Marks on Porcelain

The dishes in the second group belong to Barbara, a great granddaughter of Emma Curtis Rand.  They are from the collection of Margaret (Peggy) Richardson York.  It is known that Peggy purchased some pieces.  No information is available to sort out which ones she inherited from her mother, Emma Curtis Rand.  Included here are some of the more interesting pieces.

These pieces were not necessarily all made by the same factory.  There were many imitators of the original Blue Onion pattern made by Meissen.  Some of them used the Crossed Swords to mark their pieces.

	Blue Onion Plates
			The mark identifies these as pieces of the Zwiebelmuster Onion Pattern Porcelain.  They used this mark from 1885 through 1934.  See The Story of Zwiebelmuster Onion Pattern Porcelain.

	Blue Onion Plate		Note the crossed swords on the tree trunk.

	Blue Onion Leaf Dish		Note the crossed swords on the tree trunk.

	Blue Onion Small Round Fluted Bowls		Note the crossed swords on the tree trunks.

	Blue Onion Sugar Bowls and Creamer

	Blue Onion Small 2-Part Relish Dish

	Blue Onion Bread and Butter Plates		At first glance these plates appear to be identical.  However, a closer look reveals many differences in the pattern.

	Blue Onion Flat Salt Cellar		Note the crossed swords on the tree trunk.

	Blue Onion Footed Shell Salt Cellar		Note the crossed swords on the tree trunk.