Village Collection Chat

From Marilyn on 11th December 2003:

Hazle has taken a lot of photographs around the country in preparation for a Village Collection of flatbacks on the same scale as the Nation of Shopkeepers, but tending towards the smaller end. I think they could sell well for several reasons:

• Rustic things are very of-the-moment in Home & Garden magazines.
• They could appeal to people drawn to cottagey pieces such as Lilliput Lane. These are made of polyresin which is easier to model and doesn't require baking - but I don't find the end result as pleasing as traditional ceramics. Every roof tile, thatch reed or wall stone is depicted - but the detail is really too great and unrealistic for the scale and the colours often don't look natural.
• The most popular 10th Anniversary LP30 was Open All Hours, an old dairy and corner shop on Old Curiosity. The certificate says it "depicts shops from a fondly remembered but by-gone age based on old photographs of Brentwood."
• Early Hazles like the Village PO and others on the London Small Shop model (Fish & Chips without people) can be popular on the secondary market.
• Village pieces would extend the nostalgia theme, much cited in Why Collect?

Among my thoughts was the idea of stepping back in time to what we now think of as country crafts but were once people's livelihood. For example:

• Farrier shoeing a horse in half-light with sparks flying up
• Forge Shop next door with a cast-iron front, full of handiwork
• Dairy with modelled milk churns, a cow and a hen within a half-open door
• Baker with an old black oven and a delivery bicycle with a huge basket
• Thatcher putting his signature - perhaps a bird - onto a roof
• The Cobbler with all his tools - and a leatherwear/saddlery next door
• Farmers' Market - in a medieval market hall such as Thaxted's in Essex
• Village School
• Village Hall
• Village Inn with barrels outside and a "micro-brewery"
• Village Mill
• An old Railway Station with fire buckets hanging outside
• Village Chapel
• Wheelwrights, spinning/weaving, candles, basketry, wood-turning, violin-making, herbalist, bookbinding, dressmaking, clock-restoring, sweets, fish...
• Complete with gnarled oak trees, other vegetation and village landmarks

Hazle said she would take note of feedback on the group.

David replied on 11th December 2003:

I couldn't agree more. I was attracted by the olde worlde charm which brought back memories of living in a village populated by traditional shops where personal service was the key and everyone had time for a chat. Ah, the good old days.

Alice responded the next day:

I am totally in agreement with continuing the traditional village look of the past. As a newcomer to Hazle Ceramics this is what caught my eye. I first spotted them on one of our annual trips to England in 2002 and thought they captured what we love about England: its villages that have somehow continued to escape being overtaken by hypermodernisation. All the Americans I know that feel as we do about England say it reminds them of the 50s here in the US. I would love a tile that showed a thatched roof with a thatcher putting on the signature bird - maybe you could hint at a peacock as I collect them too. That would be a double whammy for me!

As did Maureen:

It has my vote too. I know several American collectors who would love the Village Collection and here in the UK we're pretty much into nostalgia too. As you say, not as over the top as Lilliput, but thatched roofs, an old railway station, bakery, village mill, etc all sound perfect. Yes please, Hazle!

And Yorkshire Karen:

I think this sounds a great idea too, particularly the extras that make the village more realistic like bus stops, trees and groups of people and so on, but PLEASE can Hazle make sure these have a hole in the back so they can be wall hung with the shops?

From Marilyn on 3rd November 2006:

The Village Collection was eventually launched at the 15th Anniversary Event in September 2005 with two ceramics: Village Antiques from Uppingham and Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe from Melton Mowbray. In November The Chantry from Billericay was added, including a Christmas version with snow.