I’ve received the same question a few times on my blog and Instagram, so I thought I would answer the question for everyone in a post. The question is, “What is the pot/jar holding your brushes by the sink?” It is an antique sugar bowl/jar that I found years ago at an antique store. I don’t remember how much I paid for it, but I think it was around $10 due to the fact that it was missing a lid and had a broken handle. But, as with most old things, I didn’t mind the imperfections it was bringing to the table.
I put it next to the sink to hold my dish brushes and it has been there ever since – in our previous house in PA and in our current house in MN. It’s one of those decorating decisions I don’t even think about. Well, the broken sugar jar goes next to the sink to hold the dish brushes.
The pattern is called Priory by John Alcock and was made in the mid-1800s. You can find plates and various pieces on and . I couldn’t find a sugar bowl exactly like mine, though. There are similar blue and white transferware pieces by other makers, though.
This pale blue transferware from the mid-1800s is one of my favorite kinds of blue and white dishes to find. It’s softer than blue willow or flow blue and is usually in a chunkier, gothic style that was more popular in the mid-1800s. I think the chunkiness of the pieces balances out the very feminine design.
I feel like a broken record when it comes to encouraging my readers to use things that are beautiful as well as functional. If you can use a unique piece that speaks to you and your style, then why not? Why buy something plastic and produced (unless that’s what speaks to you.) Making a home really feel special is about those little details that are there just for you. It’s a life-long process of curating things that, when put together, make up your unique style.
If that sounds like a daunting goal, you can just start with the thing that holds your dish brushes…
If you’re curious about white and transferware ironstone, you can find more posts about it here…
16 Responses
Ah, blue and white transferware…what a joy to behold. I like to think the “imperfections” tell a story…perfection is highly overrated.
For 99 cents, a pink depression dish holds hand made soap in the lavatory. It’s fun to take a small bit of money to the thrift store and find surprises that will bring me a daily smile.
I’m with you. I love details like this. It elevates the job of doing dishes. :). I have my dish brush in a vintage mustard pot…simple, functional, and lovely.
These simple touches bring a smile. Love the blue and white!
Oh I have one pink and Victorian, no lid, broken handle, was my Mothers. Ink blots inside as she kept her pins in it. I will get it out and use for my brushes. I love that, yours and mine!
So… I love your brushes! Looks much better than my plastic ones. Now I’m off to Amazon to look for wooden handled natural brushes!
A very well known antique/decorator said to me once that one should look at an item and think how you can repurpose it in another way. Just like you did Marion. I have a double handled small soup bowl and I hang earrings around the edge on my vanity.
What a lovely idea but I am wondering do you have a dish rack? By looking at your pictures I don’t see one but where do you let your pots dry after washing them?
I will use my crochet dishcloths sometimes, but I prefer brushes because they dry quicker and don’t get stinky. I use linen towels and there is a dish drainer in one side of my sink where I let hand-washed dishes dry.
I LOVE that piece!! Broken or not!!
It is a lovely piece. I agree using a vintage or unique piece for utilitarian purposes is so much better. I like using milk glass, ironstone and crocks for all kinds of containers.
I love antique sugar bowls – they were extra huge back then because sugar came in lumps – and in a noble household it was the head butler’s job (think Mr. Carson / Downton Abbey) to have tongs and break up the large sugar lumps. (Think Warner Brother’s cartoons “Will that be one lump or two?”
In my kitchen, I’ve got a red transferware sugar bowl/jar that holds straws! And another red transferware jar/bowl that holds ginger. And all my fruit is stored in several very large old milk glass beehive mixing bowls.
This brings another question – why so many brushes and do you use them for different things?
My dish brushes are in a silver mint julep cup. I think I like your sugar bowl better! So here’s a question….your brushes are lovely. I use plastic though, because I run them through the dishwasher so I know they’re fresh and clean. When using a wooden-handled brush, do you do that too? Or do you just replace them regularly? I just can’t get past thinking about whatever funk might be on my brushes – think washing the knife that cut raw meat, and then my daughter’s water bottle. In my head that doesn’t work. But maybe running them through the dishwasher is overkill? Dunno. But I would much rather have pretty brushes!
I had a red & white transferware dish that was my grandmother’s that I used in the bathroom until it broke to smithereens (where IS smithereens, anyway? and what happens to everything that ends up there?)
btw, only the first and last ironstone links at the end of the article are live.
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