A "Gatineau" collection begins

A few weeks ago, I was perusing the new issue of My French Country Home magazine when I spotted what I thought were some of the most perfect fall dishes I'd ever seen. It was a lovely brown transferware pattern, and the maker wasn't listed, but thanks to the wonders of Google Lens, I discovered it was a pattern called Mason's Chantilly. There wasn't a lot of it on eBay, but in the course of searching for those dishes, I spotted yet another perfect-for-fall brown pattern I liked even better, and I just received my first teacup and saucer marked Radfords Fenton in "The Gatineau" pattern (with quotation marks around the name, which I find interesting).

I fell in love with a lot of things about this china. First, the pattern completely covers the interior of the teacup! I often find a teacup with a little spray of flowers inside, but other than some pastel chintz patterns with all-over floral designs, I've rarely seen an inside-and-out pattern like this.

Also: This pattern is subtle. I like the softness of the color palette, which has a light copper and some browns but also turquoise (!) and mauve. Decorating for fall can be a challenge when you're not just wild about orange, so I'm already thinking of the decorating possibilities if I can collect all the pieces in this pattern one day. Teacups and dessert plates (always my first pieces, for obvious reasons) are plentiful on eBay, and I wouldn't mind having four dinner plates as well. 

Finally, I like the fact that both saucer and teacup have scalloped rims, which I find to be the most feminine shape of china pieces, and I have long loved feminine things. This teacup was just $6 on eBay (the $7 shipping still made the cost reasonable), so I'm quite pleased to have at long last found some fall-patterned dishes that I truly love!