Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Thou Shall Recycle: Tableware.

I love vintage tableware. Just by casting a glance on them, you can tell that they are of quality. Some of the old china have even been painted by hand with painstaking effort. There are also silver flatware whose handles are handcrafted with ebony, ivory or hand tooled. Nowadays, no one makes tableware quite like the past. I suppose it is because of how our lifestyles have changed over the years. Gone were the days which elaborate tableware depicted how well off people were. Nowadays not many people even have a good set of china, silver flatware, crystal stemware or table linen to entertain with.

However, I do think it is rather nice to have mismatched pieces of old table pieces, that way they can make up a quaint "set" for informal dining. 

Nothing beats eating off a good piece of china or drinking from crystal, after all what's good food without a good presentation? A few dinners like this and even the most crude diner may develop a good sense of table etiquette. 

Things to look out for:
Bone China just means that cattle bone ash is used to make the porcelain body, this gives it a translucent quality; mainly from England.

Limoges Porcelain is porcelain made from the town of Limoges, France. They make one of the best hard paste porcelain as they have kaolin quarries there. 
 
Tuscan  Fine English Bone China cups and dessert plates. The plates have an imprint of where the cup should sit. Similar to a Devonshire tea set.


Christofle Iriana Crystal Wine Glass. These are simple yet beautiful.


Royal Copenhagen Blue and White Half Laced Dinner Plates.


Arnold Namur Ebony and silver handled dessert or butter knife.


Royal Copenhagen blue and white fluted cake stand.


Spode Blue and White Canisters.



Irish Damask Linen Table Cloth. No one makes linen quite like the Irish. Look at the beautiful shamrocks on this table cloth.

Where to find:

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