Winter is treating us to a blast of icy cold weather for the next few days. It’s time for some warming counter-measures: flame-coloured parrot tulips to warm the cockles of the even the most frozen heart (or fingers).
The inspiration for this table bubbled up when I was pulling together the ideas for a Spring Refresh. Once I had the coral, yellow, green and pewter palette in mind, I went hunting around the house for coordinating pieces. A speckled scarf in shades of coral and grey jumped out at me.
Voila! instant runner.
Country Estate by Juliska was a natural choice. I’ve had the pattern for about a decade. Designed by Deborah Sears of Isis Ceramics, it’s commercially produced by Juliska in Flint, Blue and Ruby. We were lucky enough to visit with Deborah Sears at her Isis Ceramics studio in Oxfordshire on a previous trip to England. As you can see, they produce a lot of different pieces, largely custom made.
This ginger jar was made for HRH Prince Charles and features scenes from his country estate, Highgrove. Note the contrasting coloured detail around the bottom of the urn.
At the studio, they employ many more colours than are available on the commercial sets from Juliska. If I were ever to dip my toe in the water of a bespoke set, I think I’d chose either the plum or the green. How about you?
Here are some of the ladies at the studio, happily painting away! What a wonderful job that would be, and such a pleasant work environment, out in the country, surrounded by beautiful trees and working beside large windows with natural light pouring in.
I discovered Isis Ceramics earlier on the same trip when we visited Castle Howard. My attention was caught by this cabinet of green and white pieces. Please forgive the quality of this shot – it was hard to avoid the reflection. I was drooling at architectural details and wonderful ceramics in the house when I thought – wait a second – those pieces look familiar. At first, I thought they were by Juliska, but then quickly realized it was bespoke set by the artist for Juliska, Deborah Sears.
Well, I HAD to go and visit her! I tracked down the address and made an appointment to see her about a week later. She was lovely – both gracious and charming. She gave us the background to this bespoke set at Castle Howard. The family commissioned an extensive service for the current Earl’s 50th birthday. Each piece is individually designed and hand-painted, depicting scenes from the family’s life and objects significant to them. I love the mixture of shapes, as well as the deep green ink with touches of red for contrast.
The Flint coloured set I have features several different scenes. The dinner plate shows the main house on what I imagine is a fictional country estate.
The scalloped edge soup plate shows a fanciful structure, a boathouse on an island.
The canape, or appetizer plates, have four different scenes, all “follies” except for the last one. I love the medieval tent, especially.
The fourth plate is a Rapunzel-like tower. Love it.
All the pieces share a distinctive motif in the bottom centre, a kind of garden seat, though it varies with the objects placed on top of it, in this case fishing nets.
Once I’d settled on pairing the pewter coloured Juliska with coral/orange, it was natural to employ my Venetian basket glasses.
I thought these cane chinoiserie style napkins from Pier 1 were a good fit. They come in sunny yellow, clear blue and soft coral. (I was afraid it would turn out to be a vibrant orange, but my fears were unfounded).
After that, it was just a case of tracking down the surprisingly elusive parrot tulips. The florist had only a dozen, so I added some orange and coral regular tulips to fill out the vase.
Some elephants with their chubby snouts uplifted joined in as salt and pepper shakers. I think the stylized trees on the plates provided them with some welcome shade.
The flatware is Cupola from Williams Sonoma – still available.
I’m a grass-widow for the next few days and will be engaging in a burst of house organization. I blush to admit the back basement storage room is still cluttered with Christmas decorations only half put away. I shoved the boxes and bins back there when we departed in haste for the Cape right after Christmas, and have averted my gaze from the neglected mess long enough. If the weather forecast is halfway accurate, we should be getting a warm spell next week and Glenn will be power washing the front porch upon his return. Time to get out the porch cushions. We’ve been known to sit on the porch of a late afternoon in March, wrapped in blankets, sipping brandy-laced coffee and valiantly telling ourselves it’s really spring.
Have a good rest of the week, everyone!
I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch.
What a great post. I love the table and hearing the story about the dishes is a bonus. The tulips whisper spring to me. They are beautiful.
What would we do without bulbs in the dank winter months?
Hope all is well with you, Lorri!
Dear Helen,
A very restrained and detailed setting. Pewter and coral really don’t call for any more colour, do they? And I love the nod to chinoiserie in the serviettes that the plates seem to need–wish I could have sent your some of our matching coral hibiscus flowers that are rioting. I love foraging in the scarf drawer for table inspiration.
The recent cool from the depressed Jet Stream has provided excellent conditions for grass here, too. lol. I’ve already hauled out all the flowery plates, and the orchids and hibiscus are running riot. However, I despair of seeing the narcissus this year, as it’s been frighteningly warm in the Alps…they were already up when I left in January!
Looking forward to seeing some of your spring settings for new ideas. Hope the snow doesn’t last too long!
Orchids and hibiscus sound divine! Enjoy every minute of it.
I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you on your narcissus. I am often anxious about getting to the Cape at the right time to see ours, as we are frequently in England in April and if the daffs have an early blooming season, I miss out. They’re such glorious flowers, aren’t they?
I scored some lovely pink tulips at the grocery today, and am looking forward to setting a table with them tomorrow. I’ve got some forced flowering cherry branches just coming into bud in the garage – with luck the blooms will coincide.
Enjoy the weekend, Beatrice!
Love the details you provided in this post. So interesting. Thanks for sharing. How is Dundee?
Thanks, Bev. Dundee is very well! A bit too hearty and robust for his own good, but he’s the most affectionate little rascal. We all love him to bits. I’ll do a post on his latest antics, soon.
Beautiful table Helen, and so fascinating about Isis Ceramics! I would love to have my own set of custom hand painted china – wouldn’t that be fun!? ❤️ You made me laugh about the Christmas bins still being out. I just finally put everything back in and got mine back into storage this last weekend! 😉 Thanks for the inspiration, education, and entertainment!
Thanks, Barb. Yes, I’d love to have a custom set. I’ve even gone so far as to start a folder of images to include – things important to our family like all the pets, beach chairs from the Cape, the kids’ and grandkids’ various hobbies. It could be such fun!
I made a start on the back room today and then got distracted sorting out the grandkids toys. Our youngest is three, so time to send the baby toys off for donation. I’ll finish up tomorrow. And thanks for joining me in solidarity on our mutual tardiness in cleaning up Christmas! Hehe.