I love old china, but don't own any place settings... mostly just stray plates and cups including a fairly large collection of vintage Mama/Mother cups. I do own several pieces of Spode Fairy Dell, but again nowhere near a complete set. I don't use any of them, they are all displayed around my home.

Here are a few of my cup collection I used in a Mother's Day greeting.

Oh, how pretty, Lydia!

Very pretty gals!!!

I have bits and pieces of misc things. But I adore Hall China. Autumn Leaf AKA Jewel Tea. I think because my Grandma had some of it. DH is constantly trying to get me to use it....I've pulled it out for Christmas a couple times, but if something happened to any of it I would be kicking myself the rest of my life, its all in excellent condition.

Great collection you have...here are some things I have collected... not much value here but have had fun scrounging at garage sales for these...the items with roses are some I collected to break for mosaics...then could not break them...lol...Mary

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Don't talk to me about china collecting sickness! I love all your china collections.

I myself have 8 place settings and companion pieces of "Friendly Village". It was my grandmother's set and includes some of the very original pieces and shapes. I also have my mother's set of Shelley's "Dainty Blue"

But my china collection extends mostly to the Fitz & Floyd character tea sets & cookie jars. I, um, have a whole room for the different collections:

You can see the full collection in detail at the link below:

Here is a link that might be useful: F&F China collection

What a shame not to use your china. You have so much of it. I would certainly use it. Why else own a whole set?

When I was a little girl, I fell in love with the various pieces of my grandmother's Haviland Limoges. She had been a poor minister's wife, and what she had I am sure had been from her family. She had some absolutely gorgeous little pitchers which I especially loved for their old fashioned shapes. At one point, we unpacked china barrells that had been stored since the move to that house probably 40 years earlier.

So over the years I would sometimes buy one piece I would see in antique shops. Then, when my babies were young, and one not even born yet, we were watching a PBS TV fundraising auction one night, and they were auctioning off a set of Haviland Limoges. We really could not see it well on the TV, but my DH kept bidding on it for me and spent somewhere in the three hundred plus dollar range for a set of what had been 12. Half of the cups were gone, but it also included 12 plates, saucers, soup bowls, salt dishes, a serving bowl and 4 oyster plates which were in a coordinating pattern.

When the kids were little, I didn't use this set for fear of breakage, but eventually it became our holiday dinner set. I love it to this day, but I don't know anything about it. It is the typical set from the later 1800s with sprigs of flowers and gold trim on the edges and the cup handles.

I wish I knew the family who had donated it back then so I could have told them how much I treasure their family's china. It is so beautiful and reminds me of dinner at my grandmother's every time we get it out.

i have lots of old dishes but my favorite at Easter to set table in all cherry blossom pattern carnival glass in peach,green .

Ladies after my own heart. I love china pieces and have been collecting for years. All of your collections are lovely. I can't take pictures of mine like you all can because I can't hook up a camera to this computer.

I have many, many tea cups and saucers and a huge collection of various china patterns with roses on them. I have been trying to amass a collection of rose and gold trimmed china that was given out at theatres a long time ago and have quite a few place settings.

I have a few tea sets that were my Grandmothers. Unfortunately I don't have the tea pots. I also collect porcelain egg cups and egg coddlers.

Jel, I grew up eating off your English Village pattern and somewhere around here the only piece left is a mug or a cup.

I am patiently waiting for someone to drive to Scarborough to pick up 1/2 set of my Grandmother's Royal Doulton china. My cousin inherited all of what was in my Grandma's china cabinet through her Mother and she isn't the type to use any of it. LOL It has taken me years to get her to part with 1/2 of the 16 place settings of china.

I also have a small collection of Suzie Cooper pieces and a demi tasse set with coffee pot.

Down in my basement is my sisters Royal Doulton china packed in a barrel. I can't tell you how many floods that china has gone through and my sister won't let me bring it up out of the basement to use it. My Grandmother bought her the china probably 50 years ago when she was engaged and then they never did end up getting married so there the china sits. I even found a place setting of her china behind the eaves in my attic still in its original Birks box.

I also have been collecting Royal Albert Poinsettia pattern china since I was a teenager. I was originally looking to collect a breakfast set including tea pot but mostly I have cups and saucers, relish dishes, cream and sugar, bread plates. The china is discontinued so when I have extra money and see a piece at an antique shop I pick will buy it. One day I will have my breakfast set. LOL

I also collect vintage pyrex and have hundreds of pieces of various types and patterns.

I also love Royal Doulton Figurines and Coalport and my 2 favourite figures out of the ones that I have are Alice in Wonderland and Coalport Mother and Daughter.

I love how you have all displayed your china.

Anne

I sold a lot of my Currier and Ives when Amber was selling on eBay and I sold most of the better pieces. I do still have lots of plates and pie plates, mugs, cups and some very big plates. I love American dinnerware, but I don't think I would call Currier and Ives china. A lot of the pieces available now came out many years ago that you could buy in grocery stores. I think it is very pretty. I also like collecting Blue Ridge by Southern Potteries, again not china but very pretty and so many nice patterns to choose from. I really like all of your dinnerware you have.

Sue

You're right, Sue. Technically, the Currier and Ives isn't china. I guess I'm just not up on the subject enough to have distinguished between china and dinnerware when I posted. I guess I do know the difference though. The Currier and Ives dinnerware has an interesting history. Not only was it sold in grocery stores, it was GIVEN FREE as a premium by those stores, or at least the common pieces in the place settings were given free. Then you would have to purchase the companion pieces, which probably explains why there are fewer of those around and why they cost more to find now. Here's some info from an ebay page on collecting Currier and Ives. I thought it was pretty interesting:

'Royal introduced Currier & Ives Dinnerware in 1950. It was an immediate success. The copyright on the Currier & Ives prints had passed into the public domain and they remained as popular as ever. At the same time, Early American dor was enjoying a revival and the Currier & Ives dinnerware fit right in. The designs are a combination of C&I prints or parts of prints along with the famous scrolled border designed by Gordon Parker, Art Director at Royal. The basic dinnerware was offered as a premium at A&P groceries with additional pieces for sale or redeemed for coupons or stamps. Later it was also sold at department stores. It was produced until 1970 when Jeannette discontinued it as too old-fashioned. It was brought back in the mid-seventies and production continued until Royal closed in 1986. C&I dinnerware came in four colors, blue, pink, green, and brown. The blue dinnerware was produced in much larger quantities than the others and it remains the most popular. While there are not as many of the other colors available, demand for them is lower than for the blue pieces so the prices remain about the same for all colors.'

I'll put the link to that page below, if anyone is interested in reading more.

I'm just loving reading about all the collections and individual pieces that everyone has. The pictures are great and I just know I'm going to have to go do some online searches for patterns that don't have pictures posted.

Anne, cherryfizz, that story about your sister's Royal Doulton china is just amazing! And the fact that you grew up eating off the English Village.. what a coincidence!

And bulldinkie, your Easter table sounds absolutely beautiful. The variety of colors sound perfect for Easter and it must be a really pretty sight when it's all set up.

Sheilajoyce, I think it's a shame not to use it too, and once Gary and I are empty nesters, I think we'll bring ours out once in a while. For now, I'm just too cautious about taking a chance on breaking anything.

Tally, your 8 place settings of Friendly Village sounds great. We're working on just the 4 place settings and I'm hunting for the earlier ones, made in England, as opposed to the current ones which I believe are made in China. It might take us a bit, but we'll get our place settings completed, I'm sure of it. The fact that yours were family pieces make them much more special.

momof6, I think I'd be just like you.... collect those pretty rose pieces then not be able to bust them up for the original purpose! They are so pretty just the way they are!

nodakgal, your set of Autumn Leaf is just gorgeous! The number of pieces you've managed to collect is just great. And really neat that it started off with your grandma's pieces.... just like my daughter's Currier and Ives. That makes the collection even more special.

Lydia, I'd love to see a pic of your Spode Fairy Dell. Do you have one you could post?

Here is a link that might be useful: Ebay guide on collecting Currier and Ives dinnerware

very nice, ladies.
No , I don't collect china.
that Friendly Village is really cool. Don't think I've ever seen that before!

Lovely china collections Ladies! I especially like the red transferware Jel. Connie, your set is really whimsical and different! Love the rose china Mary, I wouldn't have been able to break it either.

Here are a few pieces of my Fairy Dell - a sugar bowl and 2 plates (these are in my guest bathroom lol). I liked the name (Fairy Dell... how could I resist? haha) and the swirls in it... so I bought some pieces on eBay.

Those are beautiful, Lydia! Gary and I would grab those in a heartbeat if we ran across them anywhere! One more thing to be looking for at the rummage sales and antique stores!

Well, I guess my mis-matched (vintage)Limoge pieces would count. I have luncheon plates, cups, saucers and fruit bowls...ten place settings, but not all of the same pattern...the consistency is that they all have small pink flowers. I love to use them for "lady" parties. No one gets a matched place setting. The linens, silver and center piece tie it all together. It is fun, and makes a really pretty table.

I'm not really into china. My Everyday Dishes are Pfaltzgraff Village, a plain cream and brown pattern. I used to collect Depression Glass, I have almost every piece made in a pattern called "Pink Colonial Knife and Fork". I even have a copper jello mold that matches.

I have two sets of what might be vintage; I don't really know what dates that covers. I would have to get up and go into the other room to check on the name/pattern; too lazy.

At one time I collected Johnson Bros, England, Old Britain Castles. The pattern is somewhat like Jel48's English Village except it is pink.

I want to mention to Bulldinkie that I used to collect any Depression or Carnival glass. I finally narrowed it down to just pink cherry blossom Depression and I have service for six, including cream a sugar, covered butter dish, couple bowls, platters, juice glasses, etc. I've never seen the salt & pepper shakers but 30 years ago a set would have been $1,000 or so.

All the above dishes are beautiful, and worth keeping and adding to.

Sue

When I started collecting blue willow pieces I found this story about them....

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.bluewillowinn.com/bluechina.htm

DH and I inherited his grandmother's wedding China....12 place settings of a Haviland Limoge china. DH is almost 79 years old so.
I love it but we haven't used it for a long time.....I love looking at it in my china hutch.

You might also like to askover at this other forum they do a lot of tablescapes and love place setting and china enjoy

Here is a link that might be useful: Holiday Forum - GardenWeb

I could fill many rooms with the Vintage China I would like to have, but I have to resist due to space constraints.
I like Johnson Bros China, I have a couple of pieces of The Friendly Village, but by far my favorite is The Road Home. They are brighter than The Friendly Village set and I love the shapes.
As I am too dumb to ever remember how to post a picture in my post, I have attached an ebay link to someone's listing so you can see what The Road Home looks like if you are interested.
There are many varieties of Johnson Bros China in similar patterns to The Friendly Village and The Road Home - The Old Mill and Dreamtown are a couple of good ones.
Really nice China in blue or pink is Johnson Bros Coaching Scenes. I also like JB Hearts and Flowers, and an Ivy pattern just called Vintage.
As I say, if I had a bigger house, I could spend a fortune on Vintage China.
Suzan J

Here is a link that might be useful: The Road Home China on Ebay

I have a lot of Dresden china

Carol, what pattern is your Haviland China?

Hi Ladies,

Looking up something on my china (dinnerware) and came across this message board.

Joyce: I love the Currier & Ives pattern, like your daughter I was given this by my grandmother. She gave her china as a housewarming gift after 25 years of my admiring it -- I was thrilled!

As I added to it through thrift stores, yard sales, and ebay a couple times I came across pieces I never knew existed. The egg plate is my favorite and was the best deal at only $3.00 in a church yard sale here in Virginia I didn't even think it was part of the set (still not 100%). If you come across one grab it! I'll try and post a picture of my collection, also another great piece my husband gave me on my 30th was the 13" round platter -- I use it for parties all the time.

Everyone has such lovely collections :)
Suzanna

We recently cleaned out my grandparents house and came across this china. It is Johnson Bros. England Old Britain Castles, the pink print. I am not sure what to do with it. I am not a collector, but now that I am reading everyone's posts I see that there are a lot of people who appreciate it. If I open it up and see what all is there and take pictures would anyone be interested in it?

It's good to see so many collecting beautiful old "dishware". I have lots of Enoch Woods, pink or red transferware, that I rarely see on ebay. Bits and pieces of other newer red transferware and Johnson Bros dishes. Plus lots of collectable glass. Since downsizing, it has been in crates in the garage and I miss having it near. Kimber... do check ebay and see what your "inheritance" is worth before disposing of it. Some can command a good price.... finding a buyer is hard tho, and shipping is iffy. I never see collectables like mine in shops here in So. Oregon and have given away many other "old" collectibles here. I'm not so interested in making a huge profit, but would love to have someone love it enough to want to buy it for themselves.

I inherited six sets of china. So far, I've managed to sell five of them. Most recently, I inherited my mother's service for 8 (Flintridge Bellmere Coupe). I'd love to get rid of it, but Replacements will only pay $2 for a plate they'll sell for $60! Any other ideas? I can't sell it on eBay because my dad will see that, and that just can't happen.

Are there established years for "Vintage", "Antique", etc.? (No, I'm not talking about myself; I mean as applied to the china and other tableware mentioned in this thread.)

I love vintage dishes.....but although I have a lot, I don't collect any particular pattern. Connie, your collection of Jewel Tea is impressive! I do collect vintage pyrex, like Cherry Fizz and I have a lot of that. My every day dishes are old restaurant or diner plates and platters. I don't buy much any more, because I have so much....but I still buy vintage cooking utensils. I can't pass them up. My favorite ones are a set with turquoise colored handles. I will still buy vintage Pyrex if I find it for a good deal at a yard sale or thrift shop. I also have a fairly large collection of yellow ware bowls, and I still buy those when I find one at a good price. I don't collect much of anything any more. The one thing I do collect and still buy...has nothing to do with dishes....old gate ornaments, like you used to find on chain link (or hurrican fence, as they called it) fences. I have many varieties of dogs, horses, birds, squirrels, but my favorite one, especially since I live on a bayou....is an alligator.

Tally, your link didn't work for me. Anyone else have trouble with it?

The only old china I have is some pieces of my mom's, very few, Noritake Bluebell and Lilybell and a half dozen random tea cups & saucers I bought on Ebay when Lauren was little. We had a tea party birthday party for her one year

We bought my good china from the Chicago PBS auction about 1973. It is a Haviland Limoges set from 1880 or so. We could not see the pattern on the TV auction, but my grandmother had had several partial sets and lots of pieces of Haviland. I loved them. Because my mother died when I was a girl and before even her mother did, all the Haviland Limoges that my grandmother and her spinster sister had went to our cousins. When I was expecting our first child eons ago in Chicago suburbs, I happened upon a PBS auction fundraiser while flipping channels. Lo and behold, they were auctioning off an old Haviland Limoges set. We could not see the pattern, and due to breakage, it was an incomplete set for 12. (Lots of tea cups were missing.) So, my DH bid on it and kept up with that auction all evening and won it for me. We use it for good, but I did not use it until the kids were old enough to be careful with it at our holiday table.

I especially LOVE Haviland Limoges from about 100 or more years ago. They remind me of dinner at my grandmother's table.

I've spent about 20 years putting together a complete set of Old Country Roses. It's from Royal Albert by Royal Doulton. I love this pattern. I get the ones with the older backstamps, all made in England. I love this pattern. I still have to find two more cream soup cups and saucers, and the large covered sugar bowl and creamer. I have the small open sugar bowl and creamer. I've found place settings for six and most of the serving pieces.

MIL gave us her wedding china from 1952; it is Haviland Limoges Autumn Leaf. While it's not a pattern I would have ever chosen for myself, it is lovely. I use it at Thanksgiving. The fall colors are perfect for Thanksgiving.

She got all her pieces as wedding gifts in 1952. She says very proudly that she never once used any of them. She "displayed" the sugar bowl and creamer, and all the other pieces were still in the original boxes, and even the original packaging from when it was delivered to her from the jewelry shop.

Since the dishes are now mine, I have added six berry bowls, six sauce dishes, and this lovely coffee pot to her original pieces. And we've used them every Thanksgiving.

Glad to hear you are using it, its so lovely and a shame not to enjoy it and let your guests do the same. I have Royal Albert Old English Rose as my dinner set and have used it for company for many years. The pattern was discontinued in 1987.

Link didn't work for me either.

This thread is 5 years old, not sure why kimber found it and bumped it up. Old links frequently don't work.

Kimber bumped it up in order to find a buyer for her dinnerware, tsk tsk. :-)

I don't collect but I do like looking at old patterns and styles, just for fun. I've got to say, I will never understand the practice of having, but never using their beautiful dishes.

Fine china is dying as a market because of changing tastes and practices. Secondhand prices have plummeted because no one wants the stuff. It's why so many of these companies have gone bust or moved production to the Far East. I agree with you, it makes no sense to own something that's little used. I find the very elaborate stuff hideous. White has become so popular in homes and fine restaurants.

When entertaining family or guests in my parents' era and earlier, for many the dinnerware mattered more than the food. Today it's mostly the other way around, and I think that's progress!

Not me. I know there's no market for such stuff anymore. My late mother had a full set and many serving pieces of Noritake Azalea. Yes, it was manufactured in Japan BEFORE World War 2. Grandma bought the china originally, it became Mom's after Grandma died. It sat for about 50 years in 2 a china closets in our dining room. Never used! I bought Mom a few serving pieces as holiday gifts. After she died, my brother got rid of the set. No one made any money off it. Her house and estate ended up with Bank of America.

My mom gave me some noritake that is not a complete set. Its in the basement. I have some depression glass that I have had for over 30 years in the green color and I have used it, My young nieces love the color. So I usually try to place them on our table with various other pieces I have collected just because I thought they are pretty. Mary

Hello fellow China Collectors. I am collecting dessert/salad plates in mismatched patterns. I collect the sugar bowls and creamers too. I am working on a business plan to rent props for parties. I have always adored "girlie golden items" sweet flowers...painted tea pots items the pin up girls from the curvy era would use on their kitchen tables dawning an Apron and a smile. I do not care about the value of the dishes. I use them all every day. The trade name of Shabby Chic which still has all of us women in admiration of it's sweet design, calls my name in every dusty shop - mothball smelling - church basement - ninety degrees in the sun venue. I so enjoy the treasure hunt that my IBS starts to rumble. I am caught up in the frenzy of my own accord...fortunately prior to stepping into the hunting grounds...I prepare my quest with great walking shoes...cool loose clothes...a light meal. I can not Thank You all enough for posting pictures of your lovely finds and prized China. My seek and find missions are the highlight of my weekends. I am now collecting cute plastic - backyard fun acrylic plates and wine gobblets for my event planning company. I paint old furnishings. One day...God willing...I will either get this business rolling or my Family will sell it all in an Estate Sale - when I am old and grey. I hope they will keep my bird bud vases for these little pink birdies take little space up on a windowsill.. I am certain a nice Middle Aged Women like myself will see them and use them or loan them out for a grand Tea Party some fine day - after I have left this sweet soil. Enjoy your finds...no dust on the dishes...fine or dinnerware...Share you collection with a few girl pals paired with crumpets because girls - or boys - we all just go around once.