Askilfully painted nesting bird in jewel colours perches daintily on a tree, surrounded by dark purple bellshaped flowers that glitter with inlaid mother-of-pearl shards. This beautiful design adorns a 19th-century oval toleware tray, just one of several that Rachel Hobson of Hobson May Collection currently has in stock.
‘Toleware started off in the 1700s when a sheet metalworker in Pontypool called John Hanbury produced practical metal wares that were rust-proof,’ explains Rachel. ‘Initially trays and jugs were made from iron and later tin – practical objects for the home that you could wipe down for kitchen and dining use. They soon started to
