For those that haven’t used it in a while– too fancy, too delicate, too whatever–
You will need to play around with placemats, tablecloth, even a long burlap runner from a garden supply store. But you can pretty much make it look like whatever you want it to be- country, classic, simple, ornate. I have a friend who uses her mom’s Limoges all the time. It’s “fussy” (little flowers, a busy pattern which is clearly from another time and “taste”) but in her hands it’s just gorgeous. She made a birthday dinner for a mutual friend and plopped the Limoges on brown butcher paper covering the tables with burlap napkins tied with raffia and it looked like a designer had fussed with it for days. The butcher paper went into recycling (we ripped out obvious food droppings), the burlap napkins were used to tie down her azaleas before a snowstorm, and I have no idea what happened to the raffia but she’s probably wrapping wine bottles for Christmas with raffia ties as we speak!
I wish I had her sense of style. But I love seeing something so old, ornate and “Downton Abbey” thrown on the table like paper plates at a cook-out!!!
No china. Didn’t want it 44 years ago when I got married and have never regretted it. My mom had more than one set of dishes but no “China”. My pure white round with a raised rim Mikasa is classic and fine for any occasion I’ll be serving food for!
I have Portmerien Botanical Garden which we use everyday as well as for company. Goes in the dishwasher, occasionally gets broken, but it’s easy to find another piece online or even, sometimes, at Home Goods.
I also have some gorgeous Rosenthal plates that were my mother’s. I suppose if the King came to dinner I’d use them, but HRH hasn’t accepted my invitation.
Silver flatware, on the other hand – I have two and a half sets of 12 (my grandmother’s, my MIL’s, and my great-grandmother’s) and I love to use it when we have company.
We have Lenox china that is well over 40 years old. We use it several times a year…and we put it in the dishwasher on the gentle cycle. There is plenty of gold left on the rims. Just use your china and don’t worry about it!
I work in a charity thrift store and have talked several folks into buying older china sets (which sell for $50 if we are lucky). And I suggest they just use it and not worry about it. $50 for a complete service for 12 with many serving pieces is cheaper than paper plates.
Totally agree! The only thing NOT to do is put stainless in with the sterling or silverplate as the silver will get pitted.
We put our sterling in the dishwasher too…but when we do that, the sterling is the only utensils we wash at the time.
We do.
When my mother died, she left me with TWELVE sets of dishes. Most were donated or given away. One set was a Royal Doulton white porcelain set (no metal trim) that we use as our everyday dishes. That stuff looks brand new and we have been using it daily for over 20 years.
No one buys these sets of old china. We get sets at our charity thrift shop all the time. When someone downsizes or dies, donations come our way. These dishes are a hard sell. Either people already have them (like us on this thread), they don’t want them, or they will inherit their own family’s china.
Right now we have a set of Limoges that is $50. It was $150. We reduced it, and reduced it again.
Eventually all of our sets of dishes are $1. And that’s when they sell…
I do the markdowns and removal of things that don’t sell.
I use my mom’s sterling all the time, it goes into the dishwasher and comes out sparkling clean. She got it from HER mother, who collected it piece by piece in the 1920’s and 30’s– it was a major investment for her and she loved it.
So if it doesn’t last another 100 years because of the dishwasher- I’m ok with that. It looks beautiful now with constant use, I’d rather use it than let it sit.
There are a few pieces I wash by hand because they are sterling handles with a stainless serving piece attached. I learned from experience that paying to have the stainless piece re-attached is expensive. So worth washing a salad set by hand. Everything else goes right in! Cascade Platinum- comes out with a beautiful shine.
I use my great-grandmother’s china every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grew up eating holiday meals on these plates at my nana’s house.
I’ve looked on Replacements.com before but haven’t ever been able to find this particular style. All I know is my GGM had this set in Sweden. I love these dishes.
Some day down the road, one of my kids will get this china. It’s a full set of 12 plates, bowls, dessert plates, serving dishes, and a pitcher.
Yes, for holiday/visitor meals in the dining room. I use my inherited set of Rosenthal white w/ gold trim from my mom. It is more formal and easy enough to go with any kind of holiday set up. My wedding china is Noritake and too floral. I probably should sell it since I don’t use it. I was thinking about selling some Aynsley Cabbage Rose tea/coffee cups that I see selling on ebay anywhere from $250 to $900 each - I think they are actually selling more for $250 each - I have about 8 to 10 sets. Would help with an upcoming kids wedding!
When I bought our everyday dishes (Old Country Roses & Old Country Roses Chintz) - they were labeled fine bone china. But I think the pattern makes them casual and I like a busy/chintz pattern for everyday dishes. They weren’t terribly expensive, iirc, but it was also almost 30 years ago.
Our other set is also ‘fine bone china’. One of my grandma’s sets, platinum band. Feels much more formal, have full set of 16. I do usually mix and match with both sets when we do fancy dinners as I like the aesthetic of mix and match (I do that with flatware as well). Don’t know how much they cost.
I’ve been collecting and using Franciscan Desert Rose for more than 50 years. I have over 100 pieces - including some very rare pieces - I love it so much I used it as inspiration for a still life watercolor I did -
I have Franciscan Apple…I really like it a lot. It’s not as formal as my Lenox, so that is what is in my china cabinet…going for a less formal look. Like @JustaMom , I’ve been collecting it for years.
My wedding china is bone china (Royal Dalton Biltmore) but I also have a set of hand painted Italian stoneware that I also put in the same category because they also “need” to be hand washed. But I’m re-thinking all of that based on the responses here!
We use ours but mixed with my wife’s Grandmother and mother’s sets just to make it more interesting. Don’t ask, it works. For major holiday’s with our crystal.
