Happy “vintage cottage weekend” friends! As you may know, we are currently renovating a 1926 home in our neighborhood and have plans to move in late spring. I really want to have a clutter free new home, so I am working on purging a lot of excess decor and unecessary items that will take up space. The vintage dish hoards are the first thing I am working on sorting.
I am a bit of a vintage dishes hoarder. I used to sell a lot of them on Etsy and Ebay, but shipping has gotten so high and I also have had too many issues with broken dishes no matter how well I wrap them. As we are preparing to move soon, I really am considering selling or donating at least half of my hoard. I will still have plenty to love!
My biggest collection of vintage dishes by far is ironstone in various shades of white and cream. I showcase a large portion of it in the built-in cabinets in the kitchen as you can see in this wintry display.
Vintage Adams English Ironstone Empress
I think I currently have over 100 plain ironstone platters tucked here and there all over the house and in boxes and totes. I am only going to keep about 10 of my favorites when we move. That will be plenty to display in cabinets or use in vignettes.
I am also pairing down my ironstone mug collection from thirty to ten. Or 12…
A couple of summers ago I found a beautiful Antique China Cabinet at an estate sale and gave it a makeover. It holds an assortment of dishes, both sets and orphaned pieces.
I especially love brown transferware but I have never lucked into a full set. Still I love mixing and matching patterns, so having a few pieces works just fine.
Little butter pats are dear to my heart and if I find one when I am out junking, my day is made!
Vintage Butterpats
Other vintage dishes are used in rotating displays in my corner china cabinet on the opposite side of the dining room and in vignettes around the house.
I love using plates as well art, and plan to decorate my new foyer and dining room with my favorites.
I thnk my Myott’s Bouquet vintage dishes are my all time favorites. Some of these may end up on the wall.
The three browns transferware plate on the plate rack are keepers for sure, as is the very old blue transferware pitcher in the cabinet.
Vintage Shabby Chic Dishes
When I first started collecting vintage dishes in my early 20’s I was always drawn to roses and shabby chic dishes. I still can’t pass them up if the price is right. Oftentimes that price is only a .25 for a teacup or mismatched saucer at yard sales!
Vintage Roses Bone Dishes
Several years ago I did a lot of business selling vintage dishes on Etsy. In true collector fashion, I started having seller’s remorse, so I rescued what was left my shop and into the china cabinet they went!
Shabby Chic Vintage Dishes to Keep
One of my favorite sets is a beautiful Milton Floral China in vivid pastels. You might remember it from my “Little French Tea Party for One” post.
Une Petite French Tea Party Pour Moi
I think these dishes would be perfect for a Mother’s Day Luncheon, Girl’s Sweet Sixteen party, or briday shower. I have several neices that would just love having a girlie tea party with Aunty Amber too!
This little teacup isn’t vintage, but I wanted to share this shabby chic idea of planting a little miniature rose in a teacup. Wouldn’t it make such a wonderful gift?
This would be great for any teacups that have chips around the rim. Of course the rose probably won’t grow in it long without drainage, but you could always just put the rose in a little peat pot or plastic pot so it could be taken out of the teacup for watering.
Vintage Dishes and Daffodils Easter Tablescape for Two
So, I was considering parting with these lovely English Staffordshire Bramear dishes, but after working on this post…no way man!
I am wanting to use some soft blues among green and neutrals in our new home, so how pretty would these be?
I don’t have a full set, but I can still mix these dishes in with other like patterns or use them in vignettes.
I am truly considering parting with my vintage Ballerina Wheat Dishes. I absolutley love them, but I just don’t use them for Thanksgiving anymore since finding my beautiful Turkey plates.
If I really can’t stand the thought of never seeing them again, I can pawn them off on my mom. She has more dishes than I do! Then I can borrow them if I ever want to.
I could always use them for early fall, but the past couple of years I haven’t really set an early fall tablescape with dishes. I think it would just be easier to have brown transferware that I would get more use out of year round, and then just set the table with the turkey plates which has become a tradition.
Autumn Elegance Thanksgiving Tablecape
My turkey plates aren’t vintage but they have a gorgeous vintage design and mix well with other vintage brown transferware and vintage turkey dishes I have.
I love game birds, so I won’t be parting with any of my turkey, pheasant or quail dishes.
Collecting vintage dishes is just so fun! They are must-have elements of seasonal vignettes, and I think of each piece as a minature work of art. There is a bit of romance to them too. I wonder what stories they could tell, and where they were used and who used them in them past.
This post is really just a “scan” of some of my vintage dishes collection. I have many other sets of dishes and various pieces packed away in drawers and cabinets that I bring out for seasonal and holiday decorating. My goal for my dish collecting overhaul is to possibly get rid of a lot of orphaned pieces and sets that I never use, and try to find transferware dish sets for seasonal tablescapes in green, red, and brown. I just recently found a great deal on blue transferware that I will be sharing in an upcoming posts.
Vintage Cottage Weekend at Common Ground
Today Debra is sharing her Woolen Blankets for Cozy Cottage Winter Decor. Oh how I love them, especially the plaid. When you visit Debra’s post, be sure to snoop around the photos, you are sure to find some vintage dishes somewhere!
Do you collect vintage dishes? If so do you also love feminine patterns with roses and flowers, or rather blue chinoserie or transferware in brown or blue or some other kind of pattern? I love hearing from you!
Thanks for visiting today!
Amber
