A Flower Garden All Year Round Collecting Story by Kathy Wagstaff C ollecting colorful Chintz China has become a cheerful preoccupation for many and members of the Chintz Collectors' Club have the patterns to prove it. With hundreds of collectors and dealers from the United States, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand, this association is quickly growing along with the popularity of the china. C hintz China, manufactured in the 1920's to the late 60's, is named after the colorful patterns printed on cotton fabric in India in the late 17th century. Although the brilliant earthenware was originally produced for daily use and was inexpensive, the intricate designs painted on by hand has brought the china to new heights and new prices. T his summer, the well known Christie's South Kensington Auction House in London will hold an auction devoted entirely to chintz.
Complete sets can bring thousands of of dollars.
A t last year's Chintz Convention in Florida, a live auction revealed the rising values of chintz. F ormed just four years ago for collectors and dealers of chintz, the club hosts an annual convention in the United States and also an international convention. The goals of the Chintz Collectors' Club is to keep its members informed about developments in the world of chintz. Advice on purchasing high quality chintz, news of popular patterns and their availability, dealer profiles and free advertisements are some of the perks available to the collector or dealer through the quarterly newsletter. C o-Presidents Jane Fehrenbacher and Carolyn Fox have been working for months on the annual convention set to open in Pasadena, CA, in late April.