Who were the China Painters?

Victorian ladies - China painters?

During the late 18^th century women were expected to stay home and have only “feminine” hobbies such as needlepoint or sewing.   Marriage was the main career choice but unmarried women were socially accepted as a governess, teacher or running a boarding house.

This restrictive femininity applied across the board, from fashions and painful corseting (where women often underwent surgery to remove ribs, so they could have an “hour-glass” figure) to the latest, elegant “fainting” couches (now highly collectable) where they could collapse, unable to breathe, from being tightly corseted.

Hand Painted China Dish

Because of the social restrictions of the Victorian age, china painting was one of the few jobs appropriate for proper young women. Even if they did not need to work, Victorian women painted china to express their artistic talents and beautify their homes. Factory and home decorated china did not differ in quality: talented artists worked either place. Unlike machine-made china, no two pieces of hand-painted china are exactly alike - and that is part of its appeal.

No Victorian home could be without a berry set, a large serving dish with matching smaller dishes. Chocolate sets with a tall slender pitcher and matching cups were also popular. Anything made out of china could be hand-painted: parlor lamps, dining room chandeliers, wall tiles, umbrella stands, and porcelain dolls.  I have several family plates that I would never sell, but we do have a few plates available at www.svintagecollection.com.

Despite the significant male cultural biases against Victorian women working as artists, these women represent a growing number who bucked traditions to follow their own artistic creativity.

Here is a Victorian recipe taken from a Victorian cookbook. 

Science in the Kitchen, 1892.  (Science in the kitchen. 
A scientific treatise on food substances and their dietetic properties, together with a practical explanation of the principles of healthful cookery, and a large number of original, palatable, and wholesome recipes. 
By Mrs. E. E. Kellogg, A.M.)

Berry Toast

Add yogurt or icecream

Canned strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries may be made into an excellent dressing for toast. Turn a can of well-kept berries into a colander over an earthen dish, to separate the juice from the berries. Place the juice in a porcelain kettle and heat to boiling. Thicken to the consistency of cream with cornstarch rubbed smooth in a little water; a tablespoonful of flour to the pint of juice will be about the right proportion. Add the berries and boil up just sufficiently to cook the flour and heat the berries; serve hot. If cream for moistening the zwieback is not obtainable, a little juice may be reserved without thickening, and heated in another dish to moisten the toast; or if preferred, the fruit may be heated and poured over the dry zwieback without being thickened, or it may be rubbed through a colander as for Apricot Toast. 

Personally I would use fresh or frozen fruit and serve it over pound cake or yogurt.  I am not a fan of zwieback.

Serve with hot tea.

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