Charming Sarreguemines

     I have had several pieces made by the ceramic firm of Sarreguemines through the years, but their children's pieces are far and away the most charming of all.   Sarrguemines is not only the name of the factory, but also the name of the village.   It was under German rule for a while in the late 1800s, and at the end of the World War I the area was returned to France under whose possession it was originally. 

This child's wash basin is certainly nothing I need, but I couldn't resist.   It is decorated with transferware designs of rabbits carrying eggs, walking with baskets of eggs and roosters with eggs both inside and out.   The wash basin was meant to be used at that time by the children in their bedrooms to wash up -- one side being used for clean water to rinse with, the other side for soapy water to wash with.   There were no doubt additional pieces made for this set like a pitcher and soap dish, possibly more.

     I thought it would be a nice piece to display with candy or cookies and eggs at Easter, so I decided I really did need to have it.  It arrived just in time!