Bad news. While in the UK, while my guard was completely down, I fell in love with a set of Spode china. You Southern ladies will know exactly what I’m talking about. I know about y’all. You each have about ninety-nine sets that you inherited from aunts and grandmothers and another ninety-nine that you got for your wedding. But we are much more austere out here in the West, and I have been quite happy with my set of white buffet plates while I change out the table linens and serving pieces to suit my color needs and whims.
I do have my grandmother’s Haviland china, which I adore, but it only has six dinner plates and each delicate piece costs an arm and a leg. And I have a large set of Franciscan Ware (Desert Rose) from my mother which we used for years, but it is packed away right now. (After visiting Mississippi a few weeks ago, I was pretty sure I should unpack it, but truth be told, I would need to purchase a large china cabinet to hold it and then figure out where to fit it.)
So last week while my daughter and I were shopping around in Oxford, I bumped into some china that just sang to me (as Rachel would say). I bought a couple of pieces that I couldn’t resist and broke the bad news to my husband and family that I think I will now have to start accumulating more of this stuff. I’m already setting the table in my mind and wondering how food will look on these adorable dishes. Do you know of any hot lines where I can get help?
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Replacements.com! You can get used pieces for less than new, and slightly imperfect pieces for even less than that. You can even register there so your family and friends can assist in building your collection. That is the kind of help you’re looking for, isn’t it? 😉
What’s the name of your pattern?
this post just cries out for some photos. 🙂
“this post just cries out for some photos. ”
Absolutely! And I’d love to see your Haviland, too. I’m a born and bred California girl who owns 12 place settings of Wedgwood White (yep, plain white), but I dream in Herends 🙂
I could take a picture of my adorable jug, but it wouldn’t show you all the designs available in this pattern. You’ll have to go to the official Spode website and look at Emma’s Garland. Don’t say I didn’t warn you….one look and you may be a goner too!
ebay is also a great place to buy china at less than new prices.
Alas…too new to be on Replacements.com, but certainly very pretty!
I live in the West too (Colorado), but I have southern roots and I love setting a pretty table—and china! I’m very familiar with the “china bug!” Show me a pretty plate at a good price, and I’m a goner. I haunt discount stores and picked up a stack of Spode blue and white transferware plates for $2.00 each! I took a peek at your Emma’s Garland china, and oh, it’s a breath of delicious Spring. I hope you have a wonderful time collecting the pieces.
Spode is a good choice. They’ve been around forever and don’t tend to discontinue their line (this is the Macy’s talking in me, sorry :-)). Do keep an eye out online. It’s much, much, much cheaper then buying from a retail store. Ebay is a good place if you have the time and I believe these discount stores also have your pattern:
http://www.dinnerwaredepot.com
http://www.placesettings.com
http://primehomegoods.com
Well, it’s refreshing to know that others share my weakness. 🙂 I love pretty dishes and sometimes feel guilty about the abundance around here with multiple Southern aunts and grandmas passing on their favorites. We’ve been able to make sure that each of our 4 daughters will have a set of china from a relative. And, with the range of taste amongst our feminine ancestsors, each daughter has been able to pick her favorite! I still find myself tempted by lovely china, but have to resist because, like space for more books, we’re maxed out with what we already have. I still rejoice in the pleasures of beauty, though!
Just being helpful again: It’s on sale at Macy’s!
Thanks for the hot tips!
Too funny! I’m infected by the China bug too, but my latest obsession is Polish pottery. Since I couldn’t decide on one pattern, all my plates are different. You can’t get away with that with Spode though!
I apparently inherited the china bug from my grandmother — whose walls are lined with dishes. I have our wedding set for 12, and was blessed with a set of 8 that was found in the basement of my small college in Virginia on a school work day. The men were going to throw it out [gasp!], and my now-husband brought it to me! I knew he was a keeper before, but that proved his worth!
I’m always on the look for china at yard sales and thrift stores. My goal is to decorate each room in our home around a plate 🙂 (I’ve been successful 3 times so far)
I’m afraid beautiful china is my weakness. I’ve even given thought to what kind of china and beautiful table settings we will have in Heaven (blush). There is something about that kind of beauty that makes my heart sing and the menfolk in my home roll their eyes… but even they love a well set table.
Enjoy!
Well…I’m not alone, I can’t wait to tell my husband! My cupboards are stuffed with China, Ironstone and white pitures( I have 35 white piters) I’m a little obsessed! I love pink depresion wear, white platters( I have about 12 of these) and floral 1930’s china. I am always picking up more at thrift stores, yardsales and such, my sweet hubbins just shakes his heaf and calls me insane. One thing comforts me about this “bug” though is my Mom is much worse!
Now… this is just not nice. I was doing just fine without my own china set (having a small living space and two small kiddies keeps me from even thinking about it) and you all went and exposed me to the bug! 😉
Sorry about all the spelling mistakes above…that was really sloppy of me…I accidentally submitted it before I got it cleaned up…sorry again!
I’m one of those southern gals with lots of china. 🙂 It sure is fun to plan a Sabbath feast and figure out which pattern I’m in the mood for that night. Your Spode pattern is so cheerful. You wouldn’t need many pieces for it to pack a punch with your white buffet plates.
Ah… On the Pfaltzgraff message boards (my casual pattern, as formal china will have to wait until we get a bigger china cabinet) we call this “dishfunctional” 🙂 Of course, they don’t make it easy, with new pieces (garlic keeper, petit fours plate, beverage jug…) new every season. It is all over my kitchen, dining room, and living room!
“Dishfunctional” — I love it! I almost want to catch the bug so I can use it, but surprise of surprises, I actually have self-control in this area! 😆
Oh dear. I WISH I had even a clue about china. Mine came in a big box from Costco. Goodness, even “Spode” isn’t anything more to me than a character from Jeeves & Wooster. But I can do some really cool things with plastic and paper ware :-). So thank you for giving me something to look forward to!
I’m definitely going to have to show this post to the men in my life, because you DEAR folk have made my – umm … interest in china – seem MILD! Bless you all!
Look at how much response you got to this subject! As a Southern Belle, I have more than my share of china–everything from sets I bought as grocery store promotions to Lenox for wedding presents. “Emma’s Garland” is beautiful! Enjoy!
Ellen, I was blessed with a husband who’s even more into china (and crystal and silver) than I am… Probably b/c he’s a born and bred Southerner, and I’m just a transplant!
Oooh, that is a nice pattern. (It’s also on-sale at Amazon with free super-saver shipping.)
I was born in Atlanta, and I live in Alabama, but my mom just had unbreakable corelle ware. Quite pretty, but not fine china. As for myself I don’t have room for more than my blue berry pattern stoneware, so I’d better not start getting the bug.
Corelle is actually quite breakable…at least in my house! I’m waiting to smash enough of mine to smithereens before I decide it’s time to get new dishes. 😉
I happened to read about your Spode attack a week after I resisted a Polish pottery attack. Well, actually I did succomb to the attack, but I bought the Pp teapot for a bridal shower! In a number of circles I’m known as the tea lady and have, ah, a lot of tea cups and do little tea parties. About a year ago my dear husband turned to me, looked me right in the eye, and with the “read my lips” attitude declared, “Heather doesn’t need any more dishes!” Heather is our dear college-aged daughter, and I had been hiding behind the “oh, she will really enjoy this in her home someday!” or “Heather needs tea things at school to share teatime with others!” So, the china shopping has had to stop: no more looking on eBay, no more “15 minute vacations” of scouting antique shops, no more garage sales. What to do? I still love the china! So, as Pslam 24 is true and “the earth is the Lord’s and all it contains”, I find myself praying, “Lord, it’s all yours–all the beautiful dishes–and if you have something for me to use and share, then you make it abundantly clear to me.” Then I turn my face away from temptation. Just earlier this week I was having a china hankering , and I had to submit my heart to the Lord this way. Now, mind you, I’m not saying that this is how the Lord does things every time we submit our hearts, but to my amazement, my dear next door neighborfriend (new word) brought over a box for me yesterday. What did I see when I lifted the lid? A large blue Wedgewood jasperware teapot, creamer and sugar, two teacups/saucers, and two nut dishes. My friend had purchased them in England some years ago, had never used them, and knew that I would. Isn’t God so good? He does everything better than we could ever expect. He doesn’t simply give us our daily bread–He’s the God who created scones and chocolate and Napoleons! Let’s show that same love using our dishes!
LOL! Mindy, my mom is the same way. She got hooked on Pfaltzgraff’s French Quarter when the outlet store near us closed its doors. She has enough of this pattern in her home to fully equip 3 kitchens and when my husband asks, “What are you going to do with all of that?” She says, “Your children will need dishes!” I hope they like that pattern! Think of holidays when everyone brings a dish–the table will match nicely, but they may forget whose serving dish is whose!
What a lovely gift from your neighborfriend! 🙂 God is good!
Your shopping for your daughter reminds me of what we started at Christmas… Taking Nancy’s “The Presumption Chest” post as our inspiration, we started a theme of buying kitchen tools for our college-bound neice. So much fun! I can’t wait until her birthday!