Old Country Roses

When it comes to Royal Albert designers, Harold Holdcroft was probably the most famous of all. He epitomised the team’s passion for flowers.
Harold Holdcroft designed Old Country Roses. Taking both rich and soft colours, he combined lush deep red roses with the warmth from the tea roses, alongside the delicacy of blush pink, all softened by a wash of green. And he completed the winning design with rich gold stipple and a burnished gold rim. This classic pattern emphasises the full bodied and curvaceous fluted Montrose tableware shape

Harold Holdcroft

 

 Since its launch in 1962, over one hundred million pieces of Old Country Roses have been sold
worldwide - more than any other bone china tableware pattern.
It’s an exemplary range that includes dinner, tea, and coffee ware as well as an extensive selection of giftware in a variety of decorative treatments including chintz. In addition, the design has been licensed for use throughout the home as linen, fabrics and other soft furnishings, true to Royal Albert’s lifestyle approach

 

 



For Sale By Owner

Have some Royal Albert China
you want to sell??
We are selling Ad Space for $3.00 per Ad

The ad will remain up for 1 year, the ad comes with 2 photo’s,
Extra photo's can be added for 25 cents each
Email lisa@royalalbertpatterns.com with the text for the ad and the photo’s,
Then we send you an invoice through PayPal

Ads are posted with in 72 hours of payment received!
We also post links to our “For Sale by Owner” page on our
Facebook and Twitter pages letting our viewers know we have posted a new ad!

 

Please E-mail lisa@royalalbertpatterns.com
For more information!

Afternoon Tea Party

History of the Afternoon Tea Party
While drinking tea as a fashionable event is credited to Catharine of Braganza, the actual taking of tea in the afternoon developed into a new social event some time in the late 1830’s and early 1840’s. Jane Austen hints of afternoon tea as early as 1804 in an unfinished novel. It is said that the afternoon tea tradition was established by Anne, Duchess of Bedford. She requested that light sandwiches be brought to her in the late afternoon because she had a “sinking feeling” during that time because of the long gap between meals. She began to invite others to join her and thus became the tradition.

Various Tea Times

• Cream Tea — A simple tea consisting of scones, clotted cream, marmalade or lemon curd and tea.
• Low Tea/Afternoon Tea — An afternoon meal including sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, curd, 2-3 sweets and tea. Known as “low tea” because guests were seated in low armchairs with low side-tables on which to place their cups and saucers.
• Elevensies — Morning coffee hour in England
• Royale Tea — A social tea served with champagne at the beginning or sherry at the end of the tea.
• High Tea — High tea co notates an idea of elegancy and regal-ness when in fact is was an evening meal most often enjoyed around 6 pm as laborers and miners returned home. High tea consists of meat and potatoes as well as other foods and tea. It was not exclusively a working class meal but was adopted by all social groups. Families with servants often took high tea on Sundays in order to allow the maids and butlers time to go to church and not worry about cooking an evening meal for the family.

Etiquette when attending a tea party

• Greeting/handshake
• After sitting down — put purse on lap or behind you against chair back
• Napkin placement — unfold napkin on your lap, if you must leave temporarily place napkin on chair.
• Sugar/lemon — sugar is placed in cup first, then thinly sliced lemon and never milk and lemon together. Milk goes in after tea — much debate over it, but according to Washington School of Protocol, milk goes in last. The habit of putting milk in tea came from the French. “To put milk in your tea before sugar is to cross the path of love, perhaps never to marry.” (Tea superstition)
• The correct order when eating on a tea tray is to eat savories first, scones next and sweets last. We have changed our order somewhat. We like guests to eat the scones first while they are hot, then move to savories, then sweets.
• Scones — split horizontally with knife, curd and cream is placed on plate. Use the knife to put cream/curd on each bite. Eat with fingers neatly.
• Proper placement of spoon — the spoon always goes behind cup, also don’t leave the spoon in the cup.
• Proper holding of cup — do not put your pinky “up”, this is not correct. A guest should look into the teacup when drinking — never over it.



Tea Etiquette

In order for one not to spill the hot liquid onto oneself, the proper way to hold the vessel of a cup with no handle is to place one’s thumb at the six o'clock position and one’s index and middle fingers at the twelve o'clock position, while gently raising one’s pinkie up for balance.
Tea cups with a handle are held by placing one’s fingers to the front and back of the handle with one’s pinkie up again allows balance.
Pinkie up does mean straight up in the air, but slightly tilted. It is not an affectation, but a graceful way to avoid spills.
 Never loop your fingers through the handle, nor grasp the vessel bowl with the palm of your hand.

Do not stir your tea, with your tea spoon, in sweeping circular motions.
Place your tea spoon at the six o'clock position and softly fold the liquid towards the twelve o'clock position two or three times.
Never leave your tea spoon in your tea cup.
When not in use, place your tea spoon on the right side of the tea saucer.
Never wave or hold your tea cup in the air.
When not in use, place the tea cup back in the tea saucer.
If you are at a buffet tea hold the tea saucer in your lap with your left hand and hold the tea cup in your right hand.
When not in use, place the tea cup back in the tea saucer and hold in your lap. 
The only time a saucer is raised together with the teacup is when one is at a standing reception.
Milk is served with tea, not cream. Cream is too heavy and masks the taste of the tea. Although some pour their milk in the cup first, it is probably better to pour the milk in the tea after it is in the cup in order to get the correct amount.
When serving lemon with tea, lemon slices are preferable, not wedges. Either provide a small fork or lemon fork for your guests, or have the tea server can neatly place a slice in the tea cup after the tea has been poured. Be sure never to add lemon with milk since the lemon's citric acid will cause the proteins in the milk to curdle.

Old Country Roses