The sexy tableware topic

[Keith_W]

I am not aware of a topic dealing with tableware on this forum, so I thought I would start one. I must admit I am a sucker for nice tableware, be it plates, cutlery, table linen, or accessories. I sometimes see very nice pieces when I go to restaurants, but I would like to know where I can buy such pieces myself! So I thought I would throw the question open to eGulleters - what sexy tableware do you own, or aspire to own?

Here are mine.

For everyday dining, I have a full set of Denby Jet dinner plates, bowls, and soup bowls. I have used Denby for quite a while - the plates are sturdy and heavy, are microwave, oven, and dishwasher safe, and have a nice glaze. However they are not the last word in refinement, and they look rather understated in a UK sort of way:

For special occasions, I bring out the Nachtmann Bossa Nova plates. Nachtmann is a division of Riedel, who are famous for their wine glasses. Unfortunately, the Nachtmann isn't as sturdy as the Denbys and I have already broken one by putting it in the oven. I wasn't trying to cook anything on it, I was only trying to keep the food warm! That aside, the plates do have an undeniable beauty:

My cutlery set is from Cutipol. This is a Portugese firm that makes affordable stainless steel cutlery with very nice designs. The one I have is the Ergo. This picture isn't very good but it gives you an idea:

I am looking for a new set of plates and I must admit that IVV Italy has caught my eye. For some reason, you can't find it on their webpage, but I do find the Marrakech attractive. It comes in a few different colours.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

Edited January 7, 2012 by Mjx (log)

[Blues_Cookin]

I don't have any recommendations on dishes, but holy Hannah, those are some amazing presentation you shot there - bravo!

[runwestierun]

I love all things Jars France.

http://www.terrestra.com/jarsdinnerware/?gclid=CM-37dK2va0CFQR5hwodVwOn_g

I have never seen the IVV Italy line before, thank you so much for pointing it out. So much of what they have is so beautiful, especially the glass dishes. I love to combine glass with earthenware. I am very lucky that a local glassblower makes lovely plates and I use them with my Jars Tourron, Lily Pad and Tanga. I love rich colors in my dinnerware. It rains alot where I live and color just makes the table seem more alive.

[Snadra]

No photos of my own, but we love our Stanton Bright flatware from Robert Welch. It's perfectly balanced, and its rounded shape in the hand makes it very comfortable to hold and eat from, if perhaps a little too happy to slide off the plate sometimes! We got our set on sale a few years ago, and I'm keeping my eyes peeled for another sale (every design but ours seems to go on sale!).

[Fernwood]

I love those Sandy Chilewich mats! (If size/resolution permitted you would see the same one under the platter in my avatar image.) Those were the first products of hers I ever saw. I ordered a few from the MoMA catalogue and when they arrived they were so handsome that I immediately ordered several more to fill our large table. Modern, elegant and practical.

Fern

[tug]

I love the set of flatware I got from Anthropologie last year.

They have a comfortable weight to them, and the subtle pattern that weaves up the handles just make me smile.

[ericthered]

I'm a fan of classic modern lines. For dinnerware, Heath's Coupe line is at once functional and sensuous. http://www.heathceramics.com/go/heath/tableware/coupe-line/

For flatware, Gense's Focus Deluxe line is wonderful and the feel in hand is flawless.

http://www.gense.se/index.php?id=442

Both are rather pricey, so I have built a collection through their factory outlets, ebay, and thrift stores.

Edited January 7, 2012 by ericthered (log)

[Robert Jueneman]

I would love to find some white plates that are rectangular, instead of the usual, boring round ones.

But my "Sunday best" dinnerware is from the Chile Shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are hand-thrown pottery made in Santa Fe, glazed and then hand-carved with petroglyph images around them. Cf http://thechileshop.com/petroglyphpottery.aspx for pictures. They also have some unusual southwestern style glassware, and some "Taos Twist" stainless silverware.

[Kim Shook]

ooooh, Keith! I remember asking you about those Bossa Nova dishes awhile back on the dinner thread. Showcasing them in this thread is really making them hard to resist! Just gorgeous!

[teapot]

Love the flatware!

[budrichard]

Our base 12 person settings were purchased new and are Bernardaud Limoge 'Metropoles'.

While acquiring additional pieces I found that I could acquire some of these at substantial discount off eBay. The 'Metropoles' pattern is really a Phoebe style and there are other patterns for other serving dishes that Bernardaud makes that go with the 'Metropoles' pattern.

I also found that the Reynaud line of Thomas Keller's 'Point' pattern was being heavily discounted on eBay. Purchased enough at such a low price point that we use it for everyday.

I would peruse eBay until I got a sense of what's going on and then purchase a set.

I saw a 12 piece place setting of Bernardaud go for a reasonable discount a few weeks ago. Purchasing the elements one by one of a basic 5 piece place setting is generally not economical as these are usually priced higher for those looking to fill a hole in a set. But whole sets are the way to go.-Dick

[andiesenji]

I would love to find some white plates that are rectangular, instead of the usual, boring round ones.

But my "Sunday best" dinnerware is from the Chile Shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are hand-thrown pottery made in Santa Fe, glazed and then hand-carved with petroglyph images around them. Cf http://thechileshop.com/petroglyphpottery.aspx for pictures. They also have some unusual southwestern style glassware, and some "Taos Twist" stainless silverware.

I saw these at Cost Plus World Market before Christmas

They also have similar shapes in colors - I saw the green and white bamboo plates in the store as well as the clear glass which I thought was very attractive.

Edited January 10, 2012 by andiesenji (log)

[Octaveman]

I saw these at Cost Plus World Market before Christmas

They also have similar shapes in colors - I saw the green and white bamboo plates in the store as well as the clear glass which I thought was very attractive.

Now THIS is something to consider. Sure the other stuff linked were nice but $110 for one 3 piece setting? LOL. Thanks for posting Andie.

[Kim Shook]

Love World Market - I've gotten some wonderful serving pieces there.

Our china is Haviland Limoges ‘Rosalinde’:

P1100435 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Detail:

P1100436 by ozisforme, on Flickr

You can’t tell in the picture, but the rims are the softest, palest green imaginable. I love it every bit as much as I did the first time I saw it more than 30 years ago. I was registering for china and silver and once I saw this I looked no further. Pretty amazing that I picked out something at 22 that I still adore at 52, huh?

We got a lot of it as wedding presents – eight place settings, but being young and poor, couldn’t really add to that. A year or so after getting married, we were in Williamsburg VA for a weekend and found 12 dinner plates in this design at an antique store/flea market:

P1100437 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Detail:

P1100438 by ozisforme, on Flickr

This is also a Haviland Limoges pattern, but doesn’t have the name on the bottom. I’d love to know what it is if any of our experts know. We thought that the pattern went well with Rosalinde and got them for something like $1.50 apiece. Other than the flowers, these are pure white.

Then, a number of years ago, when Mr. Kim was just beginning to understand the wonders of internet shopping (what is it with men who HATE shopping at stores, but will go bananas on Amazon or ebay?), he discovered a treasure trove of this same pattern on ebay. The lot included 12 place settings, a large platter, a small platter, an adorable square platter, covered veg, gravy boat, covered butter dish and 1/2 dozen tiny little bowls (maybe a cup each, but flattish) that I use for mints, nuts, etc. He got it for a completely ridiculous price – less than $500, I think. So we can now serve 32 people on fine china - but hardly ever do since I insist they be hand washed. Mr. Kim objects.

Our everyday is something called Parthenon by Coventry. No idea. I got it in a complete set deal at Sears on clearance for $30. I bought two sets, so I have 16 place settings – also 2 vegetable bowls, platters and sugar-creamer sets. They are just white, but I really like the rims:

P1100447 by ozisforme, on Flickr

P1100440 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Saucer:

P1100441 by ozisforme, on Flickr

I love these and use them for bread or hors d’oeuvre plates. The cups are stored in the attic since Mr. Kim refuses to use anything but a mug to drink coffee out of.

Bowl:

P1100442 by ozisforme, on Flickr

These even have a tiny little motif at the bottom:

P1100444 by ozisforme, on Flickr

These are just cheapo dishes, but very sturdy – microwave, oven, dishwasher safe and they showcase food the way that I wanted them to.

[Paul Bacino]

Been checking out our local Goodwill ( thrift stores ).. picked up 8 pc Noritaki ( White scapes ) consisting of 4-12" Dinner and 4-7 " salad. Sizes roughly.

White with gold rims-- elegant stuff 12$ for everything..

1.80 $ senior discount too!!!

[Jaymes]

I just have to say that my son and daughter-in-law have some very "sexy tableware," that they purchased primarily because she wanted "something different." So that's what they registered for at their wedding, and bought even more of it to "fill in."

And now that's what they've got - the stylish and so "something different" square plates, bowls, etc. And the stylish and so "something different" stainless flatware.

And nobody really much likes using any of it.

The flatware especially is annoying - forks and spoons that don't feel comfortable in your hands, and knives that are difficult to hold and almost impossible to get a tight enough grip on to actually cut anything. And it makes no difference how hard you try to get them to stay on the edge of your plate, they refuse to stay balanced, and they just tumble, either into your food, thereby getting the grip all messy, or onto the table, thereby getting the tablecloth all messy.

That stunning, stylish, expensive flatware is so horrible to use that I'd show up with some of my own from home if I didn't think that would cause a permanent rift in the family.

As for those trendy and stylish square plates and, especially, bowls, my DIL has a few pieces of her grandma's old, plain, out-of-fashion plates and bowls in the same cabinet.

Guess which one everybody reaches for. Nobody (including my DIL who had to have it and who still insists she loves it) wants to use those cumbersome square things unless they're forced to.

So, while I certainly think there are some absolutely gorgeous "new" and stylish tableware patterns out there, as far as I'm concerned, in this matter as in the rest of life, looks are definitely not everything.

It's one thing to make the occasional trip to the trendy, upscale eatery and eat off of those chic and different square or rectangle or triangle or whatever plates.

But having to deal with them at home, day after day, meal after meal, is a completely different matter.

Edited March 14, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'm with Jaymes entirely!

This said, I just got the opportunity to buy my first full set of heavy hand-painted Cuenca pottery (I had the lightweight "disposable" ones before, which I sort of love-hated), and although they're totally humble by the standards of this thread, I think they're incredibly sexy tableware. All parts of the set have a very comforting weight to them, and in practice the cobalt blue really sets off the food.

ETA - Photos!

Edited March 14, 2012 by Panaderia Canadiense (log)

[Jaymes]

I'm with Jaymes entirely!

This said, I just got the opportunity to buy my first full set of heavy hand-painted Cuenca pottery

Absolutely stunning. And gotta love that cobalt blue. I don't really think color gets any more gorgeous than that.

[Kim Shook]

Paul – that’s an amazing deal! Those dinner plates are $18 apiece at Replacements.com!

Jaymes - I tend to agree about those square plates. I have a few VERY cheap ones (Dollar Tree, in fact) that I use sometimes, but really just for serving. Unless you plate like a professional, food just looks awkward on them to me. And eating soup out of a square bowl feels very awkward. Maybe I’m just too accustomed to a round plate . And I hate, hate, HATE knives that roll off the edges of plates!

PC – those are beautiful and I love the look when they are stacked.

I didn’t post this yesterday, but thought of it today. How could I forget this in the Sexy Tableware thread:

P1100450 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Vegetable bowl from the Cynthia Rowley ‘Dirty Dishes’ line. Fishs Eddy will be my downfall!

How about flatware? I loved Tug’s whimsical set! I don’t have time to lug all mine out (assortment of bought/inherited stuff) today, but will do it soon and I’d love to see everyone else’s. Thanks for starting this thread, Keith! Even though your Bossa Nova plates fill me with unrequited lust, I’m really enjoying it!

[Jaymes]

I didn’t post this yesterday, but thought of it today. How could I forget this in the Sexy Tableware thread:

P1100450 by ozisforme, on Flickr

Vegetable bowl from the Cynthia Rowley ‘Dirty Dishes’ line. Fishs Eddy will be my downfall!

And, when it comes to "sexy tableware," who can forget the "Young Men Playing Leapfrog" china pattern from La Cage aux Folles?

Edited March 15, 2012 by Jaymes (log)

[Smithy]

I still have a bunch of the Taylor and Ng mugs from the mid-70's - often advertised on eBay along the lines of "X-rated Bunnies!" (or whatever animal it happens to be). I was so young and dumb then that I just liked the design and it took me a long time of drinking from the rabbit mug before I realized what they were doing. Then I went back and bought a variety. The wide, toothy grins on the bears are particularly funny.

Sorry, no photos availabe but you can almost always find them on eBay under Taylor and Ng.

[jorach]

I would love to find some white plates that are rectangular, instead of the usual, boring round ones.

Do either of these fit the bill?

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/dining-and-entertaining/dinner-plates/square-rim-large-plate/s531653

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/dining-and-entertaining/dinner-plates/square-large-plate/s545140

[Jaymes]

I would love to find some white plates that are rectangular, instead of the usual, boring round ones.

Do either of these fit the bill?

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/dining-and-entertaining/dinner-plates/square-rim-large-plate/s531653

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/dining-and-entertaining/dinner-plates/square-large-plate/s545140

Or these?

Rectangle Dinner Plates