Buuuut, who wants ancient silver? Seriously, am I clueless?
1 Like
I love old silver!
4 Likes
I’ve always liked my Orrefors crystal. My ex in laws wound up getting us 12 water, 12 wine, and 12 champagne flutes (or whatever you call the tall skinny ones). I’m sure some of the champagne flutes haven’t been used, but the rest has been. And (knock on wood) only 2 glasses have been broken over the years.
1 Like
We went with the coupe champagne glasses. Always feels special using them.
1 Like
I have my great grandmother’s iridescent coupe glasses. My parents used them on a rare occasion to serve desserts (mousse or sorbets). I got them when we first got married and they sat in the china cabinet collecting dust until about 7 years ago when my H decided we needed to buy couple glasses. I asked him why not use the ones we had and he never noticed they were there!!! (We were married 25 years at that point and they had been in our dining room china cabinet our entire marriage). He uses them nearly every single weekend for a cocktail and loves them.
It’s nice that they have gotten a revival and are very much appreciated!
6 Likes
I love old silver!!!
2 Likes
Which pattern do you have? We have Rhapsody pictured below. I would have preferred Prelude which has a little cut to it. But I wasn’t given a choice.
Ooooo, those sound gorgeous. They are wonderful for cocktails as well as champagne.
1 Like
In addition to the 12 sets of dishes my mother left me when she died, she also had a LOT of eating utensils. I have her 12 place settings with every imaginable utensil and serving piece sterling silver flatware, and our DD actually wants that (and our Lenox dishes, including all of the Christmas pieces).
We also have a service for 8 of an additional set of sterling silver, but just 5 piece place settings…no serving pieces. I think that needs to go…no one wants it.
We donated three sets of silverplate to my charity thrift store. Service for 12 each…in silver boxes. Each set sold for about $50.
4 Likes
My friend is from a ‘silver’ family (maybe Gorham? Something really old) so she has a chest (like a dresser) in her dining room full of silver. You name it, there is a fork and a spoon for that item. She puts it all in the dishwasher.
My mother always put hers in the dishwasher. And counted it before putting it away.
4 Likes
Genuine curiosity…
Where do you all store your China/glassware - in some cases, multiple sets?
Do you have China cabinets? Vintage buffets or credenzas? Chests for storage? Kitchen cabinets??
I have a big China cabinet/hutch and in this house we have a built in hutch as well.
5 Likes
Kitchen cabinets is where the OCR and Winter Chirp live. Twist Alea is used all the time and thus sits in the drawer across the dishwasher for ease of unloading! Thanks to previous owners for this great setup! The tea cups are displayed in a glass cabinet (Dania) with some trinkets my husband inherited from his parents.
2 Likes
Our house in NoVA had a large dining room and we had everything in a hutch. Current house has no dining room so the china lives in the drawers beneath the banquette in the eat in kitchen.
2 Likes
We have a china hutch and a dry bar with glass-front cabinets over that hold the majority.
My husband’s aunt entertained a lot & I got all of her glassware. I like to fix cocktails, so it all gets a lot of use. I’m more likely to use the Reidel or Schott-Zwiesel wine glasses than the Waterford.
These are my favorite of the inherited glasses. One set is monogrammed with aunt’s surname, which fits one of my names.
14 Likes
We have Franciscan Apple in our china cabinet along with the Reidel wine glasses we use.
We have a large utility room in our lower level that has shelves on both sides. In that room, I have all of the serving pieces for the Lenox Christmas, a complete set of Old Britain Castles (that I’ve had since I was 13…I’m not kidding), and this store forever Orrefors. And right now the Royal Doulton white porcelain is also down there. Lots of shelf space.
My Lenox is in a cabinet in my kitchen, as is the white porcelain dinnerware we are using (right now it’s Mikasa).
1 Like
The only china/crystal/silver I ever had was my mother’s. My parents died while I was engaged but before I was married, so I had inherited those and never registered for my own.
She had Rosenthal Romance Motif for both the dishes and her stemware. It was a raised/embossed white-on-white porcelain. The stemware was etched with the same pattern which were small ovals. It’s hard to describe. As someone else mentioned above, the wine glasses were small. She had 13 place settings of dishes but 18 cups and saucers for entertaining. She had white wines, water goblets, and coupes. I added red wine glasses and champagne flutes. It was all held in a china cabinet which I also inherited. Her sterling was Towle Old Master.
We got rid of all but the sterling when we downsized to Florida. It was probably only used once a year at Christmas. As little as we used it, I must say that this thread is making me have some regrets about getting rid of it, though we had absolutely no room in a 935 sq ft condo. I admire those of you who use yours and have kept the formality going. I do love a beautiful table. My mother preferred the white because she felt it gave one more versatility with linens and flowers.
6 Likes
Ok since this thread is going strong, I took a picture of the table already set for Christmas. This china is from my mother in law, and I think dates from the 1930s. She also insisted we buy the silver when we got married since it was such a good price. It is French Provincial by Towle. I really don’t like it.
I also have our wedding China (Spode Canterbury) and also two sets of silverplate, one Christophle from the 1890s (my great-grandparents) and one from an ill-fated restaurant my great grandfather started around 1915. I love both!
Finally – trying to use them all as much as possible!
9 Likes
I couldn’t think of the name of it but I have Prelude. https://images.replacements.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto%2Cwidth=455px/https://images.replacements.com/images/images1/crystal/O/P0000073927S0010T1.jpg
2 Likes
That’s the set my nephew got from my grandmother! The matching stemware is still in the china cabinet…my mom may end up taking it…but her china cabinets (yes, plural) are already full.
As far as our china…it’s in a china cabinet/hutch.
1 Like