Show and Tell Friday - Antique Pitcher and Bowl

I am joining in on Kelli's Show and Tell Friday. Visit Kelli and enjoy all the treasures being shared.

This is an antique pitcher and bowl that sits on the tea cart in my kitchen.

The pitcher came from my husband's grandmother's estate. The original bowl had many, many hairline cracks in it and I was always afraid that it would break.

I found this bowl that closely matches it at a garage sale just around the corner from our house. The older lady having the sale said that she didn't know how old it was, but that it had belonged to her mother.
At the top of the handle is a leaf. And the amazing thing is that there are leaves around the edge of the bowl. I was so thrilled to find it!
So I packed the original bowl away and set the pitcher in this bowl.

Here is the mark on the bottom of the pitcher. It says "Royal Ironstone China - Alfred Meakin England". From the little research that I have done, it could be dated in the late 1800's to the early 1900's.

The only word that I can read on the bottom of the bowl is "Laurel".

In the spring and summer, I will often fill it with tall cut flowers from the grocery store. I place a small glass down into the bottom of the pitcher to hold the water for the flowers.

What ever the pitcher's age or worth is not important to us. This is a treasure to us because of the many lovely memories of my husband's dear Christian grandmother Viola, who called our sons "little sugar man" when they were babies:)

I have teased you a little with glimpses of the picture on the wall behind the tea cart:) I will show you that treasure in one of the upcoming weeks;)