Who else has tableware lust?

[fifi]

Katy . . . You are a very bad person!

I am a sucker for ferns, palm trees and any kind of truly ancient flora. The orchid plates aren't bad, either.

Oh good grief. They sell it here at Neiman's. Perhaps I could get myself a single champagne flute.

[snowangel]

Hanging head, I will admit that I am a power tool junkie. I confess. I have white corelle dishes. And a arather odd assortment of serving pieces. Some from friends, a few were wedding presents. Some from my grandmothers' homes. They suit me fine, and I'm happier lusting after power tools or sitting and knitting dish rags or embroidering day-of-the-week dishtowels.

I'd love to love dishes more than drills, drill presses, router bits, but..

[KatieLoeb]

Katy . . . You are a very bad person!

I am a sucker for ferns, palm trees and any kind of truly ancient flora. The orchid plates aren't bad, either.

Oh good grief. They sell it here at Neiman's. Perhaps I could get myself a single champagne flute.

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I know. :hangs head in abject shame:

The China is just as pretty. Did you see the variations of palm tree patterned plates? I can't imagine a more beautifully set table.

The stuff is just so beautiful though. I first saw the Yeoward crystal about 8 years ago. The restaurant I then worked for had done a dinner in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt. Victoria magazine wanted to do a photo pictorial of the dinner, so they arranged for us to do the shoot at a local mansion in the Chestnut Hill section of Philly (very old money, high rent district). I went along to help the chef plate the food and the magazine's stylist had brought along some of the Yeoward crystal to set the table with. It remains some of the most exquisite tableware I've ever seen, especially with the sun streaming through the leaded glass windows of the impossibly beautiful mansion where we did the shoot and reflecting off of the stemware creating rainbows all over the walls. It was magical. I decided right then and there that before I die, I will own some of that stemware.

Now I just have to meet my next (ex)husband so I can register for it.

[andiesenji]

This Coalport Indian Tree is one of my favorites.

[Rebecca263]

Oh, that Coalport is nice. I have a set of Korlis Indian Tree and I despise it. Look for it on ePay as soon as I get something else for every day.

[Megan Blocker]

The China is just as pretty.  Did you see the variations of palm tree patterned plates?  I can't imagine a more beautifully set table.

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Those plates are GORGEOUS.

[fifi]

. . . . .

The China is just as pretty.  Did you see the variations of palm tree patterned plates?  I can't imagine a more beautifully set table.

. . . . .

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YES!!!

Get thee behind me, Satan.

[jgm]

I should never have started this thread. Now I'm lusting over things I previously did not know existed.

And my pets are going to have to have something wonderful. I had not thought of that, either.

What else is there? I might as well go totally off the deep end.

Oh --I also have a thing for Portmeirion Botanical Garden.

[andiesenji]

. . . . .

The China is just as pretty.  Did you see the variations of palm tree patterned plates?  I can't imagine a more beautifully set table.

. . . . .

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YES!!!

Get thee behind me, Satan.

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I do think that china is lovely and the proportions of the palms is just perfect. I even have some flatware with pattern that would mate nicely with this china. Colliseum, made by Wedgwood.

Colliseum

I have never used it, it is still in the original box simply because I have so much other flatware.

I think I hear my housekeeper gritting her teeth - ooops.

[andiesenji]

I should never have started this thread.  Now I'm lusting over things I previously did not know existed.

Oh --I also have a thing for Portmeirion Botanical Garden.

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I love that also. I have several pieces, mostly serving bowls and platters, but did pick up a set of the mugs when Gottschalk's dept store did a close-out sale about three years ago. I think I also bought pieces that depicted culinary herbs.

I am glad you reminded me of them. I used to bring them out for spring but forgot last year.

I set them out with the large "Provence" platter I bought at Williams-Sonoma the first year they carried it. The cost of that has certainly increased since I got mine.

[anzu]

Curlz:

Here's the link because they are indeed available through the catalog.

At least with my browser, I have to say the image hardly does them justice. 

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Watch out for the Waechterbach!

Pontormo and Curlz,

I have these mugs, the bowls, a smaller plate, and a large rectangular salad plate not listed on that link.

The color IS beautiful, and the proportions are nice. They also have black ones, and having a mix and match of both black and red is nice...

BUT, before you buy them be warned of the following problems I've found with my own stuff:

1) the glaze is not really as good as it should be, nor does the material the pieces are made from seem to be quite durable enough.

Due to the glaze, the pieces scratch very readily. It's easy to scratch them during washing, by stacking them up during storage, or even by scraping too hard with a fork or spoon.

Due to the material, it is very easy to end up chipping the edges during normal handling. I've chipped one so far just through touching it lightly against the sink while washing. This was not dropping it, banging it hard, or anything. None of my other crockery would have chipped or broken from that treatment.

2) the material conducts heat VERY readily. You certainly can't put the mugs in the microwave to heat water in them - the handles heat up too much to be able to take out the mug (found this one out the hard way by burning my hand as I grasped the handle taking out of the microwave).

Conductivity of heat is okay if you are not putting them in the microwave and simply pouring hot liquids into them.

I don't think I just got unlucky and ended up with a few duds. Rather, I get the impression it's a problem with all of them. When major department stores here in Germany discount their tableware, this is frequently one of the items that gets discounted, and I suspect this is one reason.

Also, they seem to end up disproportionally often in the bargain section due to scratches and chips. Being keen on the color, I've looked in the non-discounted section as well, and found that many of the pieces for sale at the regular price have nasty scratches in the glaze as well. And that's while still in the store and before they've suffered any of the wear and tear of use.

So go ahead and buy (they're pretty enough that I don't regret having bought mine), but do be aware first of the possible shortcomings and the probable need for kid-glove treatment before you make the purchase.

[andiesenji]

Oh, that Coalport is nice. I have a set of Korlis Indian Tree and I despise it. Look for it on ePay as soon as I get something else for every day.

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This is a set I inherited. I have a few pieces of the Spode orange/rust but do not care for it, I much prepare the multiple colors.

[Susan in FL]

The China is just as pretty.  Did you see the variations of palm tree patterned plates?  I can't imagine a more beautifully set table.

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Those plates are GORGEOUS.

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Oh my. I want the Palm 2 pattern, seriously.

Where are the prices?

And I want the Colloseum flatwear to go with it. I haven't decided which stemware I want yet.

In my dreams.....

[KatieLoeb]

The China is just as pretty.  Did you see the variations of palm tree patterned plates?  I can't imagine a more beautifully set table.

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Those plates are GORGEOUS.

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Oh my. I want the Palm 2 pattern, seriously.

Where are the prices?

And I want the Colloseum flatwear to go with it. I haven't decided which stemware I want yet.

In my dreams.....

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This is one of those things where "if you have to ask you can't afford it..."

Just as an example, the Fern pattern stemware is $240 for a large wine goblet, $220 for a small wine goblet and $240 for a Champagne flute. That's per glass.

A five piece place setting of the Gosford pattern china is a whopping $665!

But it's just so damn beautiful. I can't even explain how lovely this crystal and china are in actuality. So much more elegant and exquisite (at least to my taste) than the other "big name brand" crystal like Waterford (which I find rather heavy and inelegant) or Lenox china which I simply find sort of ordinary. (No offense meant to those that might own those. As I said - my taste and this is my tableware lust fest dammit! )

HERE is a list of retailers that carry the Yeoward line if anyone feels the need to go see it in person to lust after it more effectively.

[Susan in FL]

Holy shit. I was afraid of that. However, I probably will go look at it the next time I'm in the Mall of Millenia to -- I like what you said -- lust after it more effectively.

[racheld]

I want every color of the Yeoward Avington. All those blues and oranges and magentas. And at only 250.00 per cup and saucer...

I did, however, pick up a couple of dozen pieces of Limoge a couple of months ago, by standing in my neighbor's yard, rear in air, as I rummaged through an immense gray plastic container of yellowing newspaper crumples from the 50's, pulling out piece after piece of some bird pattern---bought all four c/s and dessert plates for 10.00. Then I unearthed six of the burnt-orange, gold-rimmed plates, in perfect condition---10.00 for those, as well. Then five of the b/b? dessert? plates for those, too---dollar each.

They went perfectly on our Christmas table, for course changes with my Mom's Mikasa with the orange-gold rim pattern.

Said neighbor is an inveterate yard-seller, and indeed, it's hard to tell if and when a sale is going on, what with the birdbaths, gazing balls, racks of bicycles, assorted in-the-works vehicles and potted plants that punctuate his yard. But he travels all over, bringing back treasures untold in his racy red pickup with the camper shell. He does mostly estate sales, but is not above stopping at your curb and trying out the bedframe/monitor/sofa that you put out on First Mondays.

I love his stuff; it's dusty and grimy and gets rained in and on, depending on his inclinations to cover and the number of tarps available. He puts out decanters with the whisper of Prohibition hooch still lingering inside; his acquisition of Beta tapes is legendary and past my understanding; his troves of dishes and crystal and fine china lurk beside ratty doubleknits and stacks, and he's prone to dumping someone's lifetime's collection of name costume jewelry into a glass bowl without brushing out the long-dead spider inside.

Over the years, from him I have acquired: a lovely three-tier china cakestand, some fifty pieces of thumbprint, several lead-crystal decanters, quite a few pressed-glass pieces, and many additions to my famous collection of Flintstone mugs. I think the trunk holds about 120 of the things now...and a couple dozen more in the coffee cabinet...haven't counted in a couple of years. We keep the extras out just for coffee now and then, and for dyeing eggs every year. We have a succession of pictures of our oldest Granddaughter, from her very first Easter to the present, wearing the same ridiculous pair of white bunny ears, dipping an egg into orange dye in the same squatty Flintstones cup. Oh, the silly things which form family memories!

And I never thought to own any Limoge, really---this has been stored so long, I like to imagine that maybe it's the same stuff that Izak Dinesen was shooing the lookers away from on the traincar. "Shoo! Shoo! That's my Limoge!!"

Edited January 15, 2006 by racheld (log)

[fifi]

. . . . .

Just as an example, the Fern pattern stemware is $240 for a large wine goblet, $220 for a small wine goblet and $240 for a Champagne flute.  That's per glass.

. . . . .

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Dammit Katie! I told you that I have a thing for ancient flora! NOW you come up with that fern pattern crystal. With my "thing" for ferns and anything clear glass you are killing me!!!

That flatware pattern is calling to me also.

This is a very dangerous topic. I am starting to envision a collection of unique champagne flutes. Er . . .

Now, if someone comes up with that fern pattern china that I saw in the collection at Windsor Castle I will go screaming into the night.

I do have a good Portmerion story. My daughter is in love with forget-me-nots. On our trip to England she went nuts to find them growing along side of the lane when we went walking. She really likes Portmerion. I went into our Foley's department store one day and they had this charming Portmerion pot, like for a plant. And it had forget-me-nots on it. Oops. They didn't have the UPC in the computer and couldn't figure out how much it was. They finally figured out that it was probably some demo piece that had gotten on the shelf by mistake. After telling them that I was absolutely going to leave with that pot even if I got arrested they decided to charge me $20 for it and would figure out the book keeping later. Good thing. A screaming hissy fit in the middle of the fine china department is never a good thing.

[andiesenji]

. . . . .

Just as an example, the Fern pattern stemware is $240 for a large wine goblet, $220 for a small wine goblet and $240 for a Champagne flute.  That's per glass.

. . . . .

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Dammit Katie! I told you that I have a thing for ancient flora! NOW you come up with that fern pattern crystal. With my "thing" for ferns and anything clear glass you are killing me!!!

This is a very dangerous topic. I am starting to envision a collection of unique champagne flutes. Er . . .

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I used to engrave unique wine goblets and a few champagne flutes. For many years one of my clients in Santa Ynez who raised Arabians, would bring me 8 Baccarat wine goblets every August so I could engrave head studies of some of her horses, a different one on each goblet. She gave one to each of certain friends each Christmas. Since I stopped doing the engravings, I have often wondered what she is now giving. I have never heard of one of them appearing on ebay. I have seen some of my basenji engravings show up from time to time but none of those were done on Baccarat. I did do a set of cocktail glasses with baseball players in various poses for a gift for one of the Dodgers execs back in the early 80s.

My best friend Carol probably has the largest collection of my basenji engraved holloware and even though she uses them all the time, none have ever been broken.

For some reason I never did any for myself and right now that seems a little odd, I just never thought of it before.

Edited January 15, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[LBNoble]

Same here, I bought 2 sets of plain white china (hey, they were 50% off) this Xmas, although I have my wedding dinnerware (that I still absolutely love, Wedgewood Napoleon Ivy, my love for this predated my beloved husband, we have service for 12, I think.) I also have some Lenox 'Westwind', inherited from my grandmother(discountinued , very oriental-looking). I also have lot of interesting bowls & plates, some from IKEA, some from various potters, I think it's interesting to mix up different stuff....(I still haven't gotten really into glasses, I'm sure that's in the future)....

[KatieLoeb]

. . . . .

Just as an example, the Fern pattern stemware is $240 for a large wine goblet, $220 for a small wine goblet and $240 for a Champagne flute.  That's per glass.

. . . . .

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Dammit Katie! I told you that I have a thing for ancient flora! NOW you come up with that fern pattern crystal. With my "thing" for ferns and anything clear glass you are killing me!!!

This is a very dangerous topic. I am starting to envision a collection of unique champagne flutes. Er . . .

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I used to engrave unique wine goblets and a few champagne flutes. For many years one of my clients in Santa Ynez who raised Arabians, would bring me 8 Baccarat wine goblets every August so I could engrave head studies of some of her horses, a different one on each goblet. She gave one to each of certain friends each Christmas. Since I stopped doing the engravings, I have often wondered what she is now giving. I have never heard of one of them appearing on ebay. I have seen some of my basenji engravings show up from time to time but none of those were done on Baccarat. I did do a set of cocktail glasses with baseball players in various poses for a gift for one of the Dodgers execs back in the early 80s.

My best friend Carol probably has the largest collection of my basenji engraved holloware and even though she uses them all the time, none have ever been broken.

For some reason I never did any for myself and right now that seems a little odd, I just never thought of it before.

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Andie:

Is there no end to your considerable and enviable talents? Those look lovely. The engraved snifters I referenced upthread have various hunting scenes on them with wild boar, deer, all manner of forest critters on them. The head studies sound like such a personal and precious gift, by comparison with something so general and generic.

I think you have earned a set of nice glassware for yourself. You should find some nice stemware or glasses you admire and engrave a set of Basenji glasses for yourself. No reason everyone else should be the beneficiary of your artistic prowess whilst your own cupboard has no examples of your own handiwork.

[azureus]

A five piece place setting of the Gosford pattern china is a whopping $665!

But it's just so damn beautiful.  I can't even explain how lovely this crystal and china are in actuality.  So much more elegant and exquisite (at least to my taste) than the other "big name brand" crystal like Waterford (which I find rather heavy and inelegant) or Lenox china which I simply find sort of ordinary. (No offense meant to those that might own those.  As I said - my taste and this is my tableware lust fest dammit! )

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I'm really regretting following that link. The Gosford is nice, but now I'm lusting after these: Ricco Deruta. At a mere $285 per place-setting, it's almost a bargain. Hmmm, I think that the dog wants a new bowl. . .

April

[andiesenji]

Thank you Katie.

I had to stop engraving because of arthritis in my right hand - difficult to hold onto the hand piece.

I do have a few pieces of my work, mostly samples but do have a couple of plates and a pitcher, just no goblets or glasses. I uploaded some others to my public gallery yesterday, a couple of birds, a Dalmatian, a Maltese and a running cheetah.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Antique barware is my addiction as well.  I have some really neat etched glass crystal snifters, pretty wineglasses, lots of little schnapps glasses and a collapsible Victorian metal cocktail shaker that comes in its own leather case.  Definitely the sort of thing no proper gentleman would leave out of his steamer trunk before boarding the Orient Express. 

My true lust though is for William Yeoward crystal and china.  The stuff is obscenely expensive and gloriously beautiful.

High on my list when I win the Powerball drawing...

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I'm in love.

[KatieLoeb]

Antique barware is my addiction as well.  I have some really neat etched glass crystal snifters, pretty wineglasses, lots of little schnapps glasses and a collapsible Victorian metal cocktail shaker that comes in its own leather case.  Definitely the sort of thing no proper gentleman would leave out of his steamer trunk before boarding the Orient Express. 

My true lust though is for William Yeoward crystal and china.  The stuff is obscenely expensive and gloriously beautiful.

High on my list when I win the Powerball drawing...

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I'm in love.

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With me or the crystal and china?

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I'm in love.

With me or the crystal and china? 

You, babe. Powerball or not!

Okay, the crystal and china were major factors.

Any other Fishs Eddy lovers out there?

Edited January 18, 2006 by FabulousFoodBabe (log)