Week Fifty-Two ‘TONK-TONK!’!
I just posted this on the Facebook page I made in memory of my mum. It’s about memories at Christmas: ‘Now, my box room office is filled with heirlooms. I have a brass tragi-comic mask from my dad’s office. A small clock from the House of Lords memento collection and a leaden typeset piece of print from an old fashioned printing press, of “Claire Rayner” in italic. A tiny mouth organ given to my mum by Larry Adler, A Plasticraft paperweight with the number 19 shaped inside it with shells and white stones, that I gave to my folks on their 19th wedding anniversary. (Mine and my wife’s is at 23 years, somehow..)
Also, I have grabbed all my pottery, which otherwise would have been binned. All but a couple of truly awful items, as well as my piece de resistance (a big fish) and some bits of porcelain, which as an advanced potter, I was entrusted with the use of, in the sixth form.
I used this porcelain to make just a few pieces, as it was costly clay. The best was based upon a small bowl. Normal stoneware and glazed in stripes, it had flakes – cornflakes made of porcelain and glazed in the right shade of orange. These were fired separately and then again, with white glass, in the bowl. When done, it looked like cornflakes in a shallow pool of milk. I added a few loose flakes that were not fired in with the milky glass and placed them, separately, on a teaspoon in the piece.
It looked so real, that Beryl, our daily help, tried to clean it up. Not that I would ever leave stuff like that lying around. Claire had nursey standards of clean and tidy and would be beyond horrified if we were to ever behave like that. And Beryl was lovely. Adored piggies, so I would get her pottery ones at Christmas…I am sure she is gone as well, now gathered to her fathers…
Anyway, as I sit and type, the five-piece porcelain wind chime I made, comprising super thin circles of porcelain with my AR stamp in them on a raised central pellet, that hung in my mum’s office since I made it and strung it up, now hangs above my head in MY office.
It used to be in front of a circular window air vent in Claire’s study and would “tonk-tonk” gently in any movement of air.
Along with the scattering of sunlight by a big sparkly ring while sat at her dressing table, this sound was part of my memories of Claire. I would be in the study for what ever reason and for so many years, this little sotto voce “tonk-tonk” sound was there.
I broke it as I moved it. Stupidly compressing it into a container. But it was just one small shard to fix back on and did not affect the balance of the odd little arms I had made to turn the five plate-lettes into a mobile. This morning, I had cause to open my window a tad and that same note gently sounded.
“tonk-tonk”
I was transported back in space and time and it was and is now very comforting. Just a silly old pottery wind-chime-mobile yet so important to me. At this time of year, with Christmas-a-coming, we all think of those we love and those we miss.
I wish you love, happiness, companionship and hopefully, a slice of unalloyed joy now and again.
Be it babies’ laughter or moments of tenderness, be you making more babies, or making sure you don’t, I wish you a Merry Christmas.’
Adam Rayner On Line Editor