Spot on Torquay Pottery ~Accidental Collection

This is a post about accidental collections. Yes, accidental. I never set out to collect Torquay pottery. We were given a few pieces of this pottery . A beloved Great Aunt of my husband's thought we would like it. She never said much more about it than that she bought it on one of her tours to England. I thought it was cute and kept it safe in a cupboard for a time when our kids were growing up. On a trip back from a visit to family in Oregon my sister Joni and I stopped at a garage sale in a very small, by-the-way town. The garage sale was one of those many would pass by quickly. Lots of plastic stuff , lots of junk. However, against my better judgment my sister encouraged us to stop and lo and behold, there was a piece of Torquay pottery for sale~ 75 cents! I knew enough to know this was a good deal! Joni paid for it and gave it to me. ( What can I say, I had no change on me at the time!) Joni began collecting Torquay pottery and later sold me her collection. So you can say this is an accidental collection. A happy , cheerful little accidental collection! Thanks Joni and Aunt Marion! Each piece of pottery has a little motto , or saying on it. Hence it's other name "motto ware". "The Devon Motto Ware is by far the most popular of the Torquay wares in the united States and Canada." ....The patterns, quaint rhymes and proverbs have attracted public attention in the twentieth century and still into the twenty-first century the pottery continues to delight visitors seeking souvenir items." "early Motto Ware carried inscriptions written in normal English but later on an exaggerated Devonshire dialect was adopted to appeal to the tourist trade. Motto Ware got the reputation as being the "bread and butter" of the Devon ( England) pottery industry. Each piece is unique in its' own way even though many bear the same decoration, because each is "custom made" being hand-made and hand-decorated." Torquay Pottery by Gerry Kline