In 2012, I attended a special event which celebrated Donn Zver's 40th anniversary as a potter. To thank his customers for their patronage, Donn Zver hosted a complimentary "Royal Tea" at his Cafe Troy in Troy, Ontario.
The buffet of sandwiches and sweets.
Cafe Troy serves locally-raised food and has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence by Trip Advisor.
A "Royal Tea" wouldn't be complete without empire cookies!
Queen Elizabeth II would have approved of the guests' pretty tea hats!
The Cafe has gorgeous stained glass windows. You can view the stained glass design in more detail here.
Tea is served from Donn Zver's stoneware teapots.
I love Don Zver's beautiful pottery, but always thought that the pricey pieces were beyond my reach...until this past summer.
I was driving home and passed a house which had several boxes sitting by the curb. My curiosity was piqued so I turned my car around and went back to check out the boxes. I recognized the Donn Zver pattern immediately and couldn't believe that the pieces--all in excellent condition--were being thrown away!
These Game of Thrones-style goblets came home with me...
...as well as these beautiful tankard mugs in my favourite colour: PURPLE!
The Donn Zver backstamp
The tankard mug is twice the size of a standard bone china teacup and perfect for drinking copious amounts of tea during the cold winter.
If you like pottery, come out for a daytrip to rural Southern Ontario and visit the Donn Zver Pottery Studio and Cafe Troy.
I'm joining the following parties this week:
Oh Margie, another fabulous outing that you attended! I certainly enjoy touring around through you. I really liked the stoneware teapots, but then your wonderful curbside finds were unbelievable! Lucky you and now they have a good home.
ReplyDeleteMargie, you sure do enjoy a lot of tea experiences! This one sounds lovely and those hats are wonderful. I do love a hat! The stained glass windows are fabulous. Imagine finding all those pieces on the side of the road in boxes! Glad you turned around and had a peek. So glad you shared with us and have a super week ahead.
ReplyDeleteAutumn blessings,
Sandi
Margie:
ReplyDeleteHis potter is truly fabulous and how kind of him to have that spread of food. We did that too, many times when I had my shop and I can tell you it's lots of work! Lovely Afternoon Tea Goodies! Thanks for sharing them!
What a great outing - and what a fantastic roadside find! Some people don't know what they are discarding! But I'm glad that YOU found the pottery since you will appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely tea party. Such pretty functional pottery. In this incident how true it is that, "One person's trash is another person's treasure."
ReplyDeleteOh jow fun! I love pottery and how lucky are you to find those beauties in a yard sale. What a fabulous tea party to be a guest in...Christine
ReplyDeleteThank you, Margie, for this beautiful post! I'd love to attend such a great tea party, but meanwhile I can enjoy your lovely photos. The buffet looks fabulous and your kerbside find sounds quite incredible!
ReplyDeleteWonderful Margie! I had not heard of his work. The tea looks wonderful...a perfect afternoon with tea and friends! Thanks for linking to Tuesday Cuppa Tea!
ReplyDeleteRuth
Wow, It's wonderful that you found a treasure. I just started a pottery course and it's really hard. I love your purple cups.
ReplyDeleteAnother fabulous tea you attended, Don's name is new to me but I can see he put a lot of thought into making this outing special.
ReplyDeleteImagine finding a box of his wares by the curb - great find and that you knew what it was.
Hi Margie,
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pottery! You attend the neatest functions! I would love to visit Ontario someday! Although I do have a fear of flying. Lol. Hopefully someday I will be overcome it. Happy Tea Day Dear Margie! Have a Wonderful Week! Karen
Hi Margie,
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pottery! You attend the neatest functions! I would love to visit Ontario someday! Although I do have a fear of flying. Lol. Hopefully someday I will be overcome it. Happy Tea Day Dear Margie! Have a Wonderful Week! Karen
Serendipity is a wonderful thing. So nice when the Universe places something wonderful in our path!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing curbside find! The tankard mugs are beautiful. Love the colors!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful event and such a lucky find! I know you felt blessed! I'm so happy for you! Hugs, Diane
ReplyDeleteWhat a great find for you there at the curbside! And yes, in the middle of a cold winter, a large mug of tea is a necessity!
ReplyDeleteThe tea looks so special, and I love the hats I see. I'm off to look up what empire cookies are :)
How exciting nice pottery sometimes I enjoy a large cup of tea.. I so want to join a poterry class and seeing that mug made me want to more lovely thank you. Happy weekend with love Janice
ReplyDeleteI love those stoneware teapots you were served tea from. Great time you had. I always have tea or coffee in large mugs. We owned a pottery factory for 30 years. It's wonderful. Go ahead and enjoy and have a happy November.
ReplyDeleteFABBY
I have a couple of pieces of Don Zver pottery and just love the glazes that he uses. I'll have to check out the link to read more about him! My mom loved his work too, and (hopefully, without sounding too morbid here), was buried in one of his beautiful urns. It just seemed fitting for Mom who loved all pottery.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea to have this social tea in celebration ... the cafe looks lovely, and perhaps one day I can convince my non-tea drinking husband to take me there for a date!
Wendy
PS great roadside find!! love those mugs & goblets
DeleteWow, sounds like a great haul!!! I can't believe they were just throwing those pretty pieces away. Good thing you saw it and stopped.
ReplyDeleteWOW, Margie - oh my gosh what an amazing treasured find! What a marvelous thing - soooo glad you were snooping, lol!
ReplyDeleteOne man's trash is another man's treasure - stupid they'd be throwing them out though - at the least DONATE them, huh?
What a fun event, what a thrill to be able to attend something so lovely. Hugs. ♥