Service

Country: England

Manufactory: Wedgwood

Date of establishment: early 20th century

Porcelain Story

The famous English porcelain manufactory Wedgwood is known for such a technique for making dishes and household items that any collector from afar can easily distinguish its products from others. As a rule, these are caskets, vases, tea sets of the same matte color (blue, light green, green, even black), decorated with contours of white patterns. I brought this stunningly beautiful service many years ago from a small English town where our son was studying then.

No porcelain collector, without looking at the hallmarks affixed to each item of the service, would believe that this Chinese-style work was made at the Wedgwood factory. That is why this tea set is exceptional. But I decided to show it to you, and here's why. Recently, the coronavirus fever that has swept the whole world has made us all experience fears that are increasingly exhausting everyone with their protracted nature and the uncertainty of overcoming them. In this regard, I was reminded of an old Chinese parable. A young man, who had long suffered from an overwhelming sense of fear, came to the sage for advice on how to get rid of it. The sage seated him at a tea table, poured freshly brewed tea and offered to treat himself to delicious cookies, and he himself went into the yard:

- I'll wait there for you.

Satisfied with the treat, the young man opened the door to the next room, but, seeing a ferocious tiger there, he immediately slammed it. The tiger ran wildly around the room, plunging the guest into violent horror. With resentment, the young man thought: how could the sage leave him alone with such a terrible beast? Finally, guessing that the tiger had fallen asleep, the young man tiptoed past him and found himself in the second room.

There, suddenly, he found a hungry wolf, angrily baring his mouth with sharp teeth. Fumbling in his pockets, the frightened young man found a few cookies and, while the silent wolf was devouring them, he quickly ran into the third room.

Then a large poisonous snake was already ready to jump on him. Noticing the sword leaning against the wall, the young man, overcoming the horror of the terrible reptile, managed to grab it and cut off the snake's head.

When he was in the courtyard and was indignant that the sage subjected him to such tests, the old man, calmly watching him, said:

- Fear haunts us everywhere. But now you understand that with some it is necessary, having adapted, to coexist peacefully. Others, on reflection, can simply be tamed. And the third, whether you like it or not, you just have to win...