Pretty, Pretty Bowls

My friend is getting ready to pack up her house for a big move and she had a few things she didn't want to take along.  So she gave me these sweet little bowls.  Her parents got them in a trade with a family in Germany sometime in the mid-late 40's or early 50's.  I just love them!  They look so sweet and spring-y!  (Thank you, my friend! ! ! ! )  I have been searching online for information on them.

So far, I haven't had as much luck as I had hoped.  Although, I am very much leaning towards believing they are from the von Schierholz factory in Germany, which has been producing porcelain since 1817 in the town of Plaue in Thuringia.  I did find a bowl online that is very, very similar to the ones she gave me.  The makers marks are very close, but not quite the same.

This is the one I found on the internet (it has fewer flowers around the rim than mine, but otherwise, they appear to be the same):

This is the maker's mark on the back of it:

And, these are the ones I have:

And the mark on the back:

Here is a closer look:

In the lower right corner, there appears to be a 6564 stamped and just below that an 8 and then right where the bottom curves up, there is a small 2.  The other one appears to have the same markings minus the little 2, but the 8 is very faint, even more faint than on this one.

The crown and shield appear to be the same on both the one found on the internet and mine, but mine do not have the name von Shierholz on them, and the "handmalerei" notation (German for hand-painted) is in a different text/font style.  It appears there are many variations on the makers marks for this company based on the number of different ones I found on the web, but none are quite like the one I have.  The one above is the closest I've found so far.

I would love to know when they were made and if they are, in fact, von Schierholz.  One of these days I may take them with me to an antique shop and see if anyone can help me on this.  In the meantime, is there anybody out there who can shed any light on them for me?  I'd really appreciate help you might be able to offer me! 

Thanks for taking a look and for any help you might be able to provide!  Talk to you soon!

Long Beach Antique and Flea Market

I spent the day doing one of the things I have been wanting to do from some time now.  I went to the Long Beach Antique Market (the Rose Bowl Flea Market is on my list, too . . . maybe next month!) .  The LBAM is held the third Sunday of the month and it seems I always think about going right after it is held and over the next month, I promptly forget about it again until it is too late.      :-(    But, this time, I had decided I was going to go no matter what.  

I had been working on getting some things moved around my place yesterday.  I had put in a long, hot, grueling day weeding, pruning, watering and moving a lot of my potted trees around and was very sore at the end of the day!  And did I mention it was HOT! ! ! !  I had run a quick errand and when I got back, I just sat in the car a bit longer than I needed to just to sit in the air conditioning, which I had running full blast, with my face right in front of the blowers!  Awwwwwww . . .  

Come morning, I was still pretty achy and I wasn't sure about all that walking today, but, I had decided I would not miss it this time, so I went and I am glad I did.  I didn't manage to get through the whole thing, as I got a late start and it was so hot the vendors were packing up a bit early!  But, I got through more than half of it and did enjoy it and am looking forward to returning sometime, hopefully, I will get a much earlier start!  :-)

They had tons of stuff!  Costume jewelry, crystal, glassware, silverware, kitchen ware, small appliances, vintage clothing, tools, toys, furniture, lamps, garden items, shells, coins, collectibles, knives, musical instruments, and, well . . . lots and lots of stuff. 

Here are a few of the things I saw there.  I have been wanting to get an hour glass, but haven't seen one that I really like.  Though this one is nice, it wasn't quite what I am looking for!  

I couldn't get a good picture of these cute little bird houses.  I couldn't figure out a way to crop out the vehicles or other distracting backgrounds.  They had a fork, with bent tines for the perch in front of the entrance and forks and spoons dangling as wind chimes below.  I'm not sure what Mr. & Mrs. Bird would think about the constant door chimes, but I thought they were really cute!

I really liked this vase . . . I should have asked how much it was!  Blue just always catches my eye!

There were a few quirky items I should have snapped pics of to share!  Like the big stuffed toy tiger that was nearly life-sized!  For some reason, he kind of reminded me of Tony the Tiger trying to act like a real tiger instead of a people.  ;-)

And this is the loot I actually ended up with!  I have been wanting to start collecting cloches and this was one of the most unusual I have seen.  It is a little on the small side, but I love the shape!  And, I am interested in getting a collection of flower frogs, so I picked up a couple today.  I love the blue in the vase (candy dish? ? ? ) and the teeny salt bowl.  I'm not sure why I had to have the cream/blue Wedgewood vase, or the swan, for that matter, but I did.  And I just really liked the decoration on the creamer, unfortunately, this picture does not do it justice.  In case you can't tell. . . I'm really liking blue and white these days!  I saw several bone crochet hooks and decided to pick one up to try it out for doilies or snowflakes!  There was also an awl that appears to be made of mother-of-pearl.  I'm not sure if it will work as well as the other ones I have, but I really liked it.  Mom and I use them to poke holes in the tops of towels to crochet tops on them for hanging in the kitchen.  Finally, I picked up a couple more shells.  I just really liked them!  They were so dainty and fragile looking! 

I couldn't decide which pic of the loot I liked best . . . so I am using both of them!  ;-)

I saw a window that I think I should have bought!  I have been wanting to get one to use just decoratively, and I think it would have been a good one for that!  It was a good-size and paned, but the panes were diamond shaped rather than square or rectangular and it wasn't all that expensive.  But, because I wasn't sure exactly where I would put it, I decided to pass on it.  But, . . . now I'm thinking  . . .  Darn . . .  Well, maybe next time!