Show Me Your China Pattern

[monarch64]

I had no idea this thread existed until today! And funny, I was just thinking about china this past week, and telling my husband it''s time to start filling in some of the pieces we are still missing from our registry! My pattern is Grosgrain by Vera Wang for Wedgwood...we both liked the simplicity of it, and I used to wear grosgrain ribbons in my hair to school everyday when I was little!

 

[portoar]

I''d be terrified to eat off that Magic Flute set. A 5 piece setting is over $1,200 and a dinner plate is $480. Just imagine an accidental breakage . . . . No, it would sit in my china cabinet and no one would be allowed within 5 feet of it! Of course I would gaze at it adoringly every day (from 5 feet away) . . . I''ve never seen such beautiful china in my life and thank you for sharing it . . .

 

[jcrow]

here''s the china we registered for this weekend in houston at Crate & Barrel. We really need everyday dishes so we got these.

 

[jcrow]

pic 2.

 

[eks6426]

My everyday dishes are white with a twisted weave edge. They are Pfaltzgraff Acadia. I have 20 place settings of it plus several serving dishes. I liked the white because I could mix and match but the edge gave it a bit more style. The pattern was discontinued 3 years ago so I bought extras. I originally had 12 place settings but bought another box of service for 8 just to be sure I had enough when I broke some. So far, only one plate broken in 13 years. I''d really love to add some variety to this, but I don''t have enough storage room right now.

I also have my great-grandmother''s (dad''s side) silver which is a 1930''s deco pattern. I think it is actually silver plated but I don''t care. It''s still really cool silverware and a nice reminder of my great grandmother.

My mom has a set of China dishes from her grandmother (my other great grandmother--mom''s side) that I can use whenever I want. It is from the late 20s...not quite deco but a hint of it.

So, I can set a table that is has both of the great grandmother''s I actually knew table settings on it.

 

[SoonIHope]

We are registering for this china from Pottery Barn. It''s sturdy enough to use every day, but a little more elegant than most of the plain everday china we saw, so it''ll still be nice for entertaining.

 

[SoonIHope]

We hope to inherit at least some of my parents'' and grandmother''s china...they are both the same pattern - my grandmother is a big antique shopper so when my parents got married she searched around until she found some antique china that matched hers and gave them a whole set of it! It looks basically like this, only more delicate...

 

[widget]

Ooooh, I just love this thread! (and having an excuse to play with my camera

)

Here is the "good china" we registered for in the late '60s...it's hand painted French porcelain...Limoges... and was digustingly expensive at the time. It was only available at one snooty boutique in Beverly Hills. (What were we thinking?

)

Anyway, since the center of the dinner plates are decorated, they feel "bumpy" when slicing something with a knife. The service has gathered dust in a closet for thirty years!

I tried to get a closeup to show the rather subtile pattern...

 

[widget]

....and for contrast, here's something I fell in love with relatively recently, and for some reason HAD to have...(no accounting for taste...)

Six dinner plates. six soup bowls, and a larger serving bowl for pasta or salad. Hand-painted roosters!

Totally impractical. Each piece is big, weighs a ton, and has to be hand washed...

widget

 

[AGBF]

albicocca,

Your set is very, very similar to the set of Richard Ginori china my sister-in-law gave us when my husband and I were married. If I can take a photo of mine, I will post one. I was unable to match the set she gave me, although I tried.

This is the most useful pattern on earth. It can be formal or everyday; it can extend any set of dishes one owns if one is entertainig a mob! And it is very classy, too! I didn''t have the good taste to choose it, but I am very glad to have received it! I applaud your taste!

Deborah

 

[SoonIHope]

Date: 2/2/2006 12:14:13 PM
Author: AGBF
albicocca,

Your set is very, very similar to the set of Richard Ginori china my sister-in-law gave us when my husband and I were married. If I can take a photo of mine, I will post one. I was unable to match the set she gave me, although I tried.

This is the most useful pattern on earth. It can be formal or everyday; it can extend any set of dishes one owns if one is entertainig a mob! And it is very classy, too! I didn''t have the good taste to choose it, but I am very glad to have received it! I applaud your taste!

Deborah

Awww, thanks Deb! You made my day!

Laura

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Date: 2/1/2006 9:53:38 PM
Author: monarch64
I had no idea this thread existed until today! And funny, I was just thinking about china this past week, and telling my husband it''s time to start filling in some of the pieces we are still missing from our registry! My pattern is Grosgrain by Vera Wang for Wedgwood...we both liked the simplicity of it, and I used to wear grosgrain ribbons in my hair to school everyday when I was little!

We are registering for the same pattern. I love that the salad plate has a different design on it. Have you seen the matching silver salt and pepper shakers, they are too cool!

 

[saturn]

FI didn''t want to register for china, he said that we won''t ever use it, but I am insisting.

I know this is dorky, but ever since I was a little girl I have looked forward to registering for china - I used to walk through the china section of the department stores and fantasize about being there with my fiance and choosing a china pattern.

However, FI did get me to compromise. I wanted the Vera Wang Blanc sur Blanc pattern on the left, but I instead decided to get Crate and Barrel''s White Pearl pattern on the right. Since the C&B stuff doesn''t have any metal on it, it''s totally dishwasher and microwave safe. I guess it''s not super-formal, but it is bone china.

P.S. Ame - when I was at C&B last weekend, the Audrey pattern had a sign saying it was being discontinued. If you need any more place settings, you''d better stock up now!

 

[just_looking!]

We''re slowly collecting Wedgwood Nature as our smarter everyday setting. We already have plain white porcelain I got in the sales last year and wanted something white but with a bit of pattern. It''s gorgeous!! Fern bracts and little fossil motifs.

 

[RedRaider]

I am from the South, and my husband and I received everything on our gift registry. I wound up with 15 placesettings and all the serving pieces for my "formal" china pattern, which is Noritake Stoneleigh. It''s white with a couple bands of silver around the edges. We''ve been married eight years, and we have yet to use it. We have moved six times in eight years, and a couple of those times, we haven''t even unpacked it. Terrible, huh?

I also received tons of my daily dishes, which are Homer-Loughlin''s Fiestaware. I have practically every color they make, and I LOVE it. I can mix and match it with everything. So much fun.

~RedRaider

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 2/2/2006 12:55:07 PM
Author: saturn
FI didn''t want to register for china, he said that we won''t ever use it, but I am insisting.

I know this is dorky, but ever since I was a little girl I have looked forward to registering for china - I used to walk through the china section of the department stores and fantasize about being there with my fiance and choosing a china pattern.

However, FI did get me to compromise. I wanted the Vera Wang Blanc sur Blanc pattern on the left, but I instead decided to get Crate and Barrel''s White Pearl pattern on the right. Since the C&B stuff doesn''t have any metal on it, it''s totally dishwasher and microwave safe. I guess it''s not super-formal, but it is bone china.

P.S. Ame - when I was at C&B last weekend, the Audrey pattern had a sign saying it was being discontinued. If you need any more place settings, you''d better stock up now!

Saturn: C&B''s White Pearl pattern is what I''m hoping to register for this weekend at their sunday engagement event. It''s so versitile! did you get the matching flatware? I think it''s called Hotel II or something like that.

 

[pearcrazy]

Here''s my china, now discontinued. I chose it in 1991. Noritake Pacific Majesty. I still love it after 15 years. It gets taken out of it''s home in my china cabinet twice a year-- at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Every once in a blue moon I''ll have a cup of coffee in one of my tea cups. My Noritake crystal is also discontinued but thankfully my sterling pattern is pretty timeless. Wallace Romance of the Sea. it''s been around for ages.

 

[pebbles]

The china we originally registered for was discontinued so I don''t have a picture of it (Lenox Kelly) so we go this pattern that is more classic IMO. It is Lenox Solitaire.

 

[saturn]

ChargerGrrl - I''m going to the C&B registry event too, in three weeks! Let me know how it goes.

I loved the Grand Hotel II flatware when I saw it online, but when I actually saw it in person it was too bulky. Right now we are considering registering for the Kate Spade "Union Street" flatware which is similar but more delicate, or else just not registering for flatware and trying to buy a whole set ourselves at a discount.

I never realized that I was so picky about flatware!

 

[Momoftwo]

After 25 years, I still don''t have "China". What I received when I got married as my good dishes which I still use are "Franciscan" Desert Rose pattern of which I have 12 place settings and glassware as well as assorted serving pieces. I considered buying china a few times over the years, but the fact is, it wouldn''t get used enough to justify the cost and my Franciscan does the job.

 

[tanuki]

I have two sets - the first was my Wedding China - White Dolphins by Wedgewood (the pattern is retired).

Here is a picture -

The second pattern is one that my sister started giving me dish by dish when her husband was working in Sandersville,GA.

It''s called Historic Georgia by Wedgewood.
The plates depict scenes from Georgia History and were very popular in Sandersville.
I commented on them - "what''s up with these plates? You see them in every house you visit".
And so it started that my sister gave me one each Christmas and Birthday and my mom started doing it too and I ended up with the whole set.
I use them at Thanksgiving or Christmas. They are sort of a conversation piece (and also they go in the dishwasher).
That''s because invariably no one has a clue what many of the pictures are supposed to be about - "The Burning of the Yazoo Act?", "Nancy Hart drawing a bead on the Tories?" (that one has an old lady with her hair in a bun staring down the barrell of a musket at a bunch of British Soldiers).

If you are interested -

The following plates are available in both pink and blue:
01. General James Oglethorpe
02. Georgia Trustees and Tomochichi in London
03. John Wesley teaching Indians
04. Wesleyan College (Macon) - First College to bestow degrees on women
05. University of Georgia (Athens) - First State University
06. Richmond Academy (Augusta) - Oldest existing high school in America
07. Nancy Hart capturing Tories
08. Burning of the Yazoo Act
09. Old Capitol in Milledgeville
10. Atlanta Capitol
11. Group of portraits of Georgia Revolutionary Patriots
12. Group of portraits of Georgia Confederate Patriots

Here''s a link for more info - Georgia Historical Plates

 

[Lorelei]

I don''t have pictures but I have the Herbs dinner service by Spode and also the Christmas Tree design which I love, I look forward to getting that out every year.

 

[LuvThatBling]

What a fun thread! I love my china. I've been married over a decade and still love, love, love my china. We eat off of it on special occasions & once in a blue moon. Like most china, it has to be handwashed but it's so worth it! It's simple & timeless, which I need since my tastes seem to change a lot over the years. My husband has recently taken to drinking espresso, so we even have demitasse cups & saucers now.

ETA: I tried to post a picture of it, but apparently I'm too dumb. It's the Mikasa Wedding Band gold pattern.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 2/3/2006 9:42:00 AM
Author: pearcrazy
Here''s my china, now discontinued. I chose it in 1991. Noritake Pacific Majesty. I still love it after 15 years.

I think that that is a lovely pattern. It looks "old-fashioned" to me. As if it might be china from your grandmother. I was surprised to see how modern it is.

Deb

 

[LuvThatBling]

I finally figured out where I was going wrong so here is mine. I bought some gold chargers to go with it & it is even more stunning.