Tableware
This Four Seasons pattern spoon and small cup were found in a burned cabin near Likely, BC.

Dishes, ivory chopsticks, spoon.

Two small sauce or sesame seed dishes:

Here are a "matched pair" of old Chinese bowls with a bird and flower design. These 8-sided bowls measure 7 inches across and 2.5 inches high and were purchased at auction in Fort St.John in northern BC 30 years ago. They may have been used in a restaurant.

Smaller Four Seasons pattern plates and dishes. The two smallest are sauce dishes. This pattern was called Four Seasons or Four Flowers pattern because each of the four flowers in the design blossomed in one of the four seasons of the year. It was a favorite pattern of the Chinese of the Pacific North West.

Large plate with a small plate, the two sauce dishes, and spoons. All Four Seasons pattern. I picked up most of the Four Seasons items from a tiny shop on Pender Street in Vancouver's Chinatown 30 years ago. The owner was a caligrapher and painter and also sold local collectables on consignment.

Spoons, various patterns.

Four Seasons pattern spoons, various designs.

Three smaller bowls shown with the two sauce dishes, Four Seasons pattern.

Smaller bowls, a cup and two liquor cups-- celadon and bamboo patterns, used in Vancouver, BC. and also obtained at the tiny caligraphy shop on Pender Street.

Two more smaller bowls, one bamboo pattern and one celadon. These date pre 1900 and were used in a Chinese restaurant at Angels Camp, Ca.--

This is a "double happiness" bowl obtained by my source from Vancouver BC's Chinatown in the 1990s. The maker's mark is near the inside centre of the bowl. This bowl is very similar to one shown in the University of Montana, Chinese in Montana website. It is also similar to pieces of Annamese ware I have seen---


"Attributes of the Eight Immortals" pattern: Sauce pourer, two liquor warmer/servers, a covered bowl, bowl, five tea cups, wine cup. The pieces on the left are a red-orange, the other pieces are a lighter yellow-orange. This pattern seems to have only these two body colours with perhaps some minor variations. You can see similar pieces in the Asian American Comparative Collection illustrations. I am still missing a spoon in this pattern. You can see one in the Asian American Comparative Collection and also on the University of Montana pages if you click on "Other Chinese Ceramics". These were used and collected in BC and California.

Larger bowls-- Three of these came from the old Chinese restaurant in Keremeos, BC.

Cups-- Three Attributes of the Eight Immortals pattern, three Four Seasons pattern, two Rose Medallion pattern. These came from various sources in BC except one of the "Immortals" cups which came from a site in northern California.

Two longevity motif cups purchased in 1973 from a bottle digger in Victoria, BC--

Sauce servers-- On the left is an Attributes of the Eight Immortals pattern server. Next to it is a Four Seasons pattern server.

This is a unique miniature sauce server. I have never seen one like it before--- from Vancouver's Chinatown. The clay body and brown glaze are the same as the you find on the larger spouted jars. The Canadian Loony coin is shown for size comparison---

Here is a liquor warmer/server-- with liquor cups (liquor cups are Four Seasons pattern). I found 4 of these tiny cups in Victoria, BC and then obtained a fairly large quantity from San Francisco's Chinatown. The server came from the antique shop at the Ashcroft Manor Tea House near Ashcroft, BC, many years ago (a locally sourced piece). This was the same shop that had Bill Hong's teapot.

This is a sweet pea pattern liquor warmer/server sourced from BC-- with liquor cups (liquor cups are Four Seasons pattern). There is one of these in the Asian American Comparative Collection and one has recently been added to the Barkerville Chinese Museum display.

Sweet pea pattern items pictured here to display them together-- 2 wine pourers and an ink or brush wash bottle. The wine pourer in the centre came from a source in Eastern Canada and was locally used.

This is a pottery pan used at the Warrendale Fish Cannery, in Warrendale, Oregon by Chinese workers in the late 1800s. It may be a serving dish. Shards of these were found at the digs at the fish cannery site in the 1960s showing this was not a one-of-a-kind item there but more widely used--

Two cooking or serving dishes-- the large one measures over 7" in diameter, both from Vancouver's Chinatown:

Here is a herb cooker/rice steamer/teapot reportedly found behind the Yan Wah store in Barkerville, BC in the 1960s (written on a tag when I purchased it in a "junque"/antique shop in Quesnel). Roy has one in his collection from Cumberland, BC. There are large numbers of these in the log building stores in Barkerville's Chinatown.

Small representative collection of restaurant ware--
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