How do you set your table?

[fashionista-ta]

replacements

^ I have some too that I use for everyday! (My criterion is can it go in the dishwasher or not.) This is Starfire Collection in Jade:

 

[Caramel]

I am trying to solve the puzzle that is dinnerware/flatware/stemware, etc. It's kind of like building a good capsule wardrobe. I find that we are entertaining much more lately (my current apartment is the first I've lived in that's large enough to actually have dinner parties) and I am always missing/needing things, so I want to start getting that sorted. The challenge is that I have a lot of vintage pieces that I love and want to keep using, but finding pieces to match is not that easy!

I am currently looking for everyday tea-/coffemugs to go with a set of not-quite-white-not-quite-cream vintage fayance breakfast set, dessert plates to go with my mismatched collection of white and gold teacups, and all new wine glasses - feeling a little overwhelmed!

Btw, we have a thread for this ... maybe 'table' is in the title?? I love to mix and match vintage things, including for every day.

My favorite mugs are from Emma Bridgewater ... you might take a look at those. Dessert plates ... something from Royal Copenhagen? For wine glasses, I know connoisseurs say you should use very specific glasses, and I do have a couple different stemless styles from Riedel (which I use for picnics!). But I find that other glasses work fine. I have some vintage water glasses that I also use for wine. The very first ones I bought were from TJ Maxx, which turned out to be seconds for sure I felt bad for the guy who snapped off a stem at the first party I ever had--he thought it was his fault, but I'm sure it wasn't. I still have a few survivors--4 of the original 8 I bought, I think. That's the nice thing about vintage ... you are getting the survivors. Let me see if I can find that thread ...

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f58/how-do-you-set-your-table-79023.html

First of all, I love all your different dishes Ta-ta! So much pretty... I suspect if lack of space wasn't such an issue for me I'd have a lot more than I do, but I've had to keep things fairly simple.

I have only one set of plates and bowls that I use for everything: breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's a vintage set that I've collected, I started out with three bowls that my grandmother gave me that had been given to her by her aunt. My grandmother says she remembers eating strawberries with cream from these dishes when she was a child. I think the line was in production between the 30's and the 60's, it's by a well known Norwegian company called Egersund. This is what the bowls from the set look like:

epla.no

I use these for soups, salads, cereal, berries, sometimes even ice cream. The plates are meant as dinner plates, but they are small enough to work as breakfast plates too. I also have a serving plate and two different serving bowls from the same series, and am looking for some bigger bowls for serving salad and for as fruit bowls.
I've always heard that fayance is so fragile, but I've had my dishes for nearly ten years and use them daily (including dishwasher and microwave) and they don't show any more wear now than when I got them (when they were already 50+ years old).

Anyway, this is the set that I want tea-/coffemugs to go with. I had a look at Emma Bridgewater and there were so many cute ones, but the thing is that I personally don't drink tea, coffee or any other hot drinks, so the mugs will be used mainly by my boyfriend...I wonder if they may be slightly too feminine for his taste.

I've been looking at ceramics from different Scandinavian companies, such as Tine K, Bloomingville, House Doctor because I like a lot of the colors and prints, but she shape and size is always off for me (also, the thing right now seems to be mugs without a handle - seems very impractical).
For a while I was considering Swedish Grace by Rörstrand, as I really love the pattern and the shape, but I couldn't get comfortable with any of the colours. The white is too white, and I can't see any of the pastels really working in my house. I would have loved them in a medium grey or a beige that wasn't too yellow...
So the search continues...

This is the flatware set that I have. The maker is Hardanger Bestikk, (again, well known in Norway ), the line is called Nina:

hardangerbestikk.no

I really like it, although sometimes I think that if I were to start again with something new I'd get something more simple and modern, and leave romance for the silver...
Which I don't have any of yet, but at some point I will be inheriting parts of my grandparents silver, so I am thinking of starting collecting some pieces. They have this set called Lilje:

theodorolsen.no

I love how simple and elegant it is.

As for glasses, my ancient dishwasher have ruined most of the glasses I had (they were cheap ones anyway), so for now I use some very basic water glasses from Ikea. I also have some cut crystal tumblers that I got in Prague many years ago - boyfriend uses them for whisky and I sometimes use them as water glasses for nicer dinners.

Like I mentioned, I need new wine glasses, and I always felt that I should get Riedel glasses. Years ago I used to work in a shop that sold them, and we took classes on wine and glasses, but at that time I wasn't all that interested. To be honest I'm not crazy about how they look, and I'm no wine conoisseur so I'm sure I'll be fine drinking my wine from regular wine glasses. I went browsing some shops today and kind of landed on these from Holmegaard (starting with white wine, since that's what I drink 99% of the time

scandinaviandesigncenter.no

 

[Caramel]

And finally there is my vintage teacup collection. I'll admit they're bordering on garish, but I can't help it, I love them in all their princess-y glory! These are two of the types I have (but without the dessert plates), there are some others as well (some a bit more masculine too ) but all of them are white and gold.

ebay.com

^ I remember actually spotting this one in the first Pirates of the Carribbean-movie!

So these are the type of cups I am looking for dessert-/cake plates for. I think it's hard to find anything modern that would fit, but Rosenthal may have something, or perhaps something like this. I know I want plain white, any more gold would be too over the top for me.
I would love to find something by the weekend after next, since my birthday is coming up and it would be so nice to serve cake from matching cake plates...

 

[fashionista-ta]

Thank you I had a lot of what I have now when I lived in a 599-sq ft apartment--but it had a big kitchen with lots of storage

I think maybe the Haviland Ranson that I have would go with your cups? It had many imitators, so there's a great deal of it around. It's European as I recall ...

I don't know whether Replacements ships to you or not ... do you have a service like that where you are? When you collected your pattern, did you just do that in shops? eBay might be an option. Your pattern is really sweet ... it reminds me a bit of a pattern I considered but didn't buy that had shaded roses--I think it may have been Dior?? It's really nice to have the family connection. I was offered some of my grandmother's china (maybe--not sure whether I would have had to get married to take advantage of it ), but it wasn't to my taste and my sister has it. The silver pattern my grandmother bought for herself was similar to mine--it is also floral repousse. Buttercup, I think.

One thing to remember about Riedel is that it will make good wine better ... and also bad wine worse I enjoy really nice wine, but I personally don't find it worth paying for. I buy a very reasonably priced wine that I enjoy for everyday use.

 

[Caramel]

You're absolutely right about the Haviland Ranson, I think I missed that picture when I was scrolling down. They are exactly like what I have in mind, so I will have a look around and see what I can find!

We don't have anything like the Replacements site here, so I collected all of mine from antique shops, Salvation Army shops, flea markets and a bit online from private auctions. It's very rare that I've come across this pattern so I've bought pretty much everything I've found. Nicer vintage chinas are easier to come by it seems, probably since they would have been used only for special occasions and thus not been as worn out or easily broken, so there is more left of it.

I'm the same with wine. I can appreciate nice wine, but I never buy very expensive ones for myself, and I'm not very experimental so I tend to stick with what I know I like. I figure if they taste good in the glasses that I have now they probably won't taste worse in any other wine glass. But perhaps I should buy only one to start with, just in case I'm completely wrong!

I've also been wanting to start collecting a nicer set of china, so I've been looking around a bit to see if I can find something I like. I don't think I want to go for vintage this time, as I'll be wishing for pieces for Christmas and birthdays so it should be more easily available. I quite like White Pearl by Villeroy & Boch, but I'm not sure if it's too plain, and also a little too similar in style to the one I've got already...

 

[fashionista-ta]

replacements

^ Well, you can't really go wrong with white! To me it is significantly different from what you have

The nice thing about Replacements is you can send other people there. I often request things from there as presents. There's also a local dealer at an antique mall who always has lots of Russell Wright Iroquois Casual. I use the 8" vegetable serving bowls as pasta bowls, which are not a piece that used to exist! I have them in parsley (dark green), pink, and ice blue. For some reason the colors are not properly vibrant in these pictures.

For Christmas I also got myself (I'm responsible for buying one of my own Christmas presents, from my sister ... long story) Villeroy & Boch Petite Fleurs cereal bowls to use as fruit bowls. I'm not sure if this is still in production or not (it is) ... I got mine from an antique mall. And, as it turns out, at a much better price than Replacements has, which is not always true. It pays to check out multiple sources, if they're available ...

With my English Garden, it's the same situation as your pattern. It was only made in 1933, so what I found, I bought. Now I'm pretty fully stocked, but there is a rare covered vegetable bowl I'd love to have ...

I feel like I don't really need anything else now, at least not for everyday ... but we'll see

 

[fashionista-ta]

Wow, just looked at the cost of international shipping from Replacements You can, though, find out all the names of the copycat Ranson patterns from there ...

 

[Caramel]

Oops, that's pretty steep! I think I'd rather search for something locally then...I didn't see where I could find the copycat patterns on the site, but I suppose a google search might do it for me.
I wish we had a Replacement here too, it seems so handy, but I suppose there isn't enough of a market in such a small country...


And yes, the white ones aren't that similar at such, but they are both all white with a relief border and fairly romantic in style... ink: Just contemplating if I ought to go for something either more clean and modern, or something with a pattern or perhaps a gold/silver edge. But honestly, the all white is much more 'me', so I shouldn't be complicating things too much!


Love the bowls, the pastel ones especially.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Maybe there's something similar in Europe? In fact, I'm pretty sure I've seen ads in British magazines. There are other smaller ones here, but Replacements is the giant. It is still owned by the founder, who is a marriage equality activist (in the conservative South), employees can bring their dogs to work, etc. I'm sure it's a fun (but dangerously tempting!) place to work!


If you sign up for e-mail notifications for the Ranson pattern, it will automatically send you all the others.


If you do a metallic edge, you will be handwashing them for all time They do both have a relief border, but the new pattern has very modern lines.

 

[Caramel]

^^ That's true. And I think the last thing I will want to do after a dinner party for 12 is having to wash every single piece by hand... ink:

 

[Caramel]

Also, here is what I set the table with at our summer house. We have dishes enough for a whole army out there. Lots of different blue patterns, mostly old ones by Egersund like the set I have at home.

husetilunden.blogspot.no

epla.no

epla.no

Recently we supplemented with some inexpensive Ikea plates that I think fits fairly well with the style. We have a lot of barbeques and eat outside in the summer and the vintage plates can be a little on the small side sometimes.

ikea.no

And some sturdy Ikea glasses for outside dining:

ikea.no

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I like that Ikea glass. I don't have any blue and white, but I grew up with a blue and white pattern ... it's nice.

OK, here's the big one in Europe: http://chinasearch.co.uk/about-us/

 

[Caramel]

Wonderful, thank you! I plan on checking some antique shops tomorrow, but if I can't find anything I like I'll start looking online.

I forgot to mention that all the blue patterns are from my grandparents. I'm not sure it's what I would have picked myself, but we grew up using it at the summer house so it holds a lot of memories and I do quite like it. Plus the blue and white works well for a house by the sea.

 

[eizhowa]

Really nice, Caramel. Do they come in a shade of orangey-brown?

I think I will inherit a lot of blue china as well...

 

[Caramel]

^ Hmm, will regular brown do?

https://epla.no/media/u/shops/11183...77-b2ad-4d20-be11-9b070f5c3cab_org_medium.jpg

(Egersund Brun Fasan, same as the first of my blue pictures.)

 

[fashionista-ta]

rubylane, replacements

My Russel Wright bowls come in that kind of color ... Ripe Apricot.


I also collected a (rare) brown transferware pattern, Our America by Rockwell Kent ... this plate (and same pattern, different sizes with different scenes) is hanging on my dining room wall. I also have the serving bowl with the same scene of New York harbor.

 

[fashionista-ta]

Here are the equivalents to Haviland Ranson ...

Racine by Hutschenreuther
HAB2 by Habsburg
THO4 by Thomas
OSG33 by Oscar & Edgar Gutherz
JB133 by Johnson Brothers

 

[Nymphaea]

I see some great pieces!
I really love the creations of this lady (a bit expensive)

facebook.com/IsabelleAbramson
And I like tableware with some gold details like:

wedgewood
Most of my tableware is simple and off-white.

 

[Caramel]

^^ I love white and gold too.

I did a round of antique shops last friday without any luck, but I did find some white plates at a thrift shop. They were none of the ones you listed Ta-ta (thanks for being so helpful! ), but something from Bavaria (I can't quite recall the name) but they were quite similar to the Haviland Ranson ones anyway, and they work very well with the gold cups. I also picked up some glass dessert plates.

 

[Melisande]

Caramel, beautiful tableware. I have both the Ikea plates and the glasses you've chosen, and my grandmother has given me some antique plates like your blue ones except in burgundy. My dinner set is like the last plate in Nymphaea's post. I love gold and white too...and gold on crystal.

For breakfast and lunch and tea I like to purposefully mix and match individual items I've fallen in love with over the years...mostly pastels, flower prints and polkadots, and antique. Vintage items found in flea markets...like my gold-rimmed café au lait bowls and lilac teapot...and my mauve "embossed" water glasses from Zara home...which all somehow go so nicely together...along with the dusty-pink tablecloth and a little bunch of flowers, it's so whimsical and pretty. These things make me so happy...