Category Archives: Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey: Coffee in the Drawing Room with Royal Doulton English Renaissance China

Coffee is Served on Downton Abbey
Coffee is Served on Downton Abbey

Coffe is served in the Downton Abbey drawing room in a stylish Coffee set of English bone china by Royal Doulton called English Renaissance. This set  would not look out of place in today's livingrooms.  Luckily for collectors you can find a good selection of pieces from this range on eBay currently . Click Here for a selection.

Lady Cora’s China Breakfast Ware

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Lady Cora Crawley, Duchess of Grantham on Downton Abbey, has fine china pieces on her breakfast tray. The design is Herend Chinese Boquet in the Rust colorway. We see her most notably using it from the Season 1 Episode One of Downton Abbey when she gets the news of the Titanic disaster, and again later in the series when Baxter brings her a much appreciated glass of orange juice to win her favor.

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Cora, Countess of Grantham see with Herend fine china on her breakfast tray
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Herend Chinese Bouquet

Downton Abbey Decor Chinese Bowl & Plate

Lady Violet and Chinese Bowl
Lady Violet and Chinese Bowl

Lady Violet played by Dame Maggie Smith presents flowers from Lord Merton to Mrs Crawley in a Chinese Bowl.  A closer look at the pattern on the bowl indicates a Chinese rose medallion Canton style pattern. Chinese decorative plates in a simlar pattern were used as set dressing in various locations on the Downton Abbey sets.

Lady Edith and Chinese Plate in Downton Abbey
Lady Edith and Chinese Plate in Downton Abbey
More views of the Canton porcelain plate with Lady cora on Downton Abbey
 Canton porcelain plate with Lady cora on Downton Abbey

Similar bowls can be found on eBay at a range of prices. Click Here for a current selection of chinese bowls.   and HERE for Plates. In fact many of the Downton Abbey props were sourced on eBay according to Donal Woods, Production Designer.

Get the look: Lady Mary Crawley’s Breakfast China

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Lady Mary Crawley's Breakfast Tray -Spode Stafford White China Cup and saucer, Crown Derby Creamer Jug

Going all out for a full set of Downton Abbey style fine china may not be practical or affordable on a limited budget. A fine china breakfast tray setting is an affordable luxury and perfect for a stylish breakfast in bed. Take inspiration from Lady Mary Crawley's breakfast tray. On the Downton Abbey set they used  Spode Stafford White china with a custom Downton Abbey crest but otherwise identical to the pieces you can buy online  See a selection here on eBay. Also on Lady Mary's tray is a tall cream jug from Royal Crown Derby with a distinctive panel on the side. The example above has a green colorway.  Here is another example with Red detailing.

Royal Crown Derby Panel Large Creamer
Royal Crown Derby Panel Large Creamer seen on eBay

Continue reading Get the look: Lady Mary Crawley’s Breakfast China

Downton Abbey: The Empire Typewriter

The Empire Typewriter as seen on Downton Abbey

The Empire typewriter patented in 1892 was seen on an early episode of Downton Abbey. The Empire typewriter was first manufactured by Williams Mfg. Co. , Montreal, Canada and Plattsburgh U.S. In 1924 production moved to British Typewriters Ltd. West Bromwich,Staffordshire, England

A similar one was seen on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VINTAGE-EMPIRE-TYPEWRITER-PATENT-1892-shop-display-advertising-office-/151888060585
Reference:   http://www.typewritermuseum.org/collection/index.php3?machine=empire&cat=kf