A christening!

The term properly refers to the acceptance of the recipient of a christening, or Baptism, into the church of Christ. It means to "bring to Christ."

In this case, our latest grandson is due to be christened this weekend.  As a Church of England tradition the actual ‘christening’ will often be added at the end of the normal Sunday service.  So, hopefully we won’t have to wait too long as for other little ones it can be tiresome!

This ceremony does give the family the excuse to meet, join with friends and neighbours to enjoy and formally recognise the latest addition to the family.  Hopefully, the weather will be kind to allow a barbeque to be held outdoors otherwise it will be a finger buffet style meal indoors.  Either way, I am sure our grandson will be totally oblivious (he is only 6 months old) as it will be his nap time anyway!

Whilst strolling through the realms of this talented team of interior designers I came across some beautiful items that might be perceived for the celebration of a christening.

Stained Glass Manager by Creations in Glass.

A handcut beautiful opalescent iridized stained glass, for the base & foiling the pieces using the copper foil technique, and soldering to a music box base that plays away in a manger there are two wise men & baby Jesus.  Perfect for that Christmas christening!

 

 

Christening gifts can be difficult to source but what about this useful item?

The Owyn Toy Box by Mod Mom Furniture

The Owyn Toy Box is a modern organic-style chest designed for any room in the house!  Use it to store everything from toys to gadgets to blankets. It has two easy lift-off lids that fit the top like a puzzle. Easy for little hands to manipulate!  The Owyn Toy Box is separated into two convenient compartments under individual leaf lids.

Looking for something to keep as a memento of this auspicious occasion?  Why not this item which you will agree is a little diferent?

 

Decorative Silver Giraffe Flower by Yoola

The artist created it as most of their creations using the smallest crochet needle available in the market and a silver colored copper wire.

 

 

 

For a reminder of how we welcome cherish this new child into God’s midst this delightful image would be prefect!

Gift of a Child by DeborahVoizin

This is one of my most favorite images. It shows how tiny and fragile a newborn baby is, in comparison to adult size hands that will be caring and guiding this sweet child through life.

 

 

 

Perfect for that old fashioned style!

Victorian Style Crochet Christening Cape by Precious Quilts aka me, On a Whimsey!

Can you imagine your little one on their special day wearing this romantic Victorian style christening cape?

 

And, so I look forward to our family gathering next weekend!

Yogya Silver

Some of my more regular readers may remember that I spent much of my childhood, well my younger childhood, living on an island called Java in Indonesia.   We used to live in Bandung but what I want to write about is Yoga silver which was worked in the town of Yogyakarta to the east of Bandung.

Silver was not really worked until the early twentieth century.  In fact, the 1930’s.  The art of silverwork or silversmiths had been dying out since it was the aristocracy who bought and used the local silverware.  However, as they lost their power to the colonising nations they lost their wealth to pay for commissions and luxury goods.  So, the native craftsmen lost their ready market and regular income.  Silversmiths became a dying breed since youngsters showed no interest in continuing the craft.

In 1930, the wife of the Governor of Yogyakarta in central Java in the Dutch East Indies took an interest in the revival of the art of the silversmith industry.  Her plan was similar to the one a decade earlier in Cambodia, where local artisans were encouraged to learn their historical aesthetics and to use the inspiration to create silver objects to cater for the European whims.  Although this remarkable lady departed Java when her husband came to the end of his posting, the enthusiasm gained momentum.  Local silversmiths now created the most beautiful artifacts for the local Dutch population as well as the American tourists.

After Indonesia gained its independence in 1949, the Yogya silver trade flourished and continued well into the 1960’s.  Since virtually all the silverware was purchased by foreigners, few examples remain in Indonesia.

Certainly, my parents bought a lot of the silverware which over the years was given away to other family members or sold.  Today, the ornate pieces would need constant cleaning and polishing which really would take up too much time and be so impractial since they were not dishwasher safe!

The silverware was part of my earlier ordinary day to day life.  So much so that it was not until we moved to Europe that I realised one did not use ornate silverware for every day tasks!

We still have a few of these around the house to open our mail. 

A typical letter opener.

 

 

 

 

 

Several of these are gradually finding their way onto Ebay.  In fact, I have one listed there at the moment!

The casing can be slid off the actual lighter.

 

I also remember my mother using a tea service similar to this one, even after we moved to Guernsey.  It was only when friends came to visit that I fully realised that this was not the norm!

 

 

Fruit used to be displayed in a dish similar to this!

 

Can you imagine letting your little one feed themselves with this spoon?

 

 

The table would be laid with cutlery edged with the ‘typical’ Yogya designs.  Even the salt and pepper condiment set would be placed on the table.  We had one exactly like this!

So I think you get the idea of what life could be like.

Born with a silver spoon in the mouth, well not exactly but then it was a totally different world, altogether!