I can't really comment. Considering most guests tht come to my house get to eat off of the good DIVIDED paper plates.
:)

Well momto4, maybe you should have the boys get their crayons out and color some medusa heads on those plates for the next party.

Did anyone see the movie a few years ago called "The Bird Cage" starring Robin Williams. If you did, that pattern reminded me instantly of the hilarious dining room scene, the one where his guests noticed the rather interesting, intertwined greek gods along the edges of the dishes.

igloo,

After reading all the posts I went back and looked at it again because my first impression before reading was that it would look great in your dining room. I still feel that way after my second look :-) We're not at all formal so I would never buy anything that dressy but if I were eating dinner at your house I wouldn't think you were on crack, I would think it's striking china. Whether it's worth the price or not is your call so that doesn't enter into my opinion. But I looked back closely at it and the medusa wouldn't weird me out or anything. Most of the plates just have gorgeous rims. I don't think I'd care for it if the medusa was on all the dinner plates, but I like the way it's all mixed up.

mimi

Reminds me of the dining scene in the movie "The Bird Cage", when Diane Wiest remarks about the young men playing leap-frog. Except I liked their dinnerware more ;o)

I saw these last Sunday in Costco. IRL, they are very "nouveau rich" looking. Very over the top which makes sense since they are Versace. IMHO, I think they are agin to the quick thrill but over time may start to wear on you.

Versace is take it or leave it. I'd leave it. But that's because I am concerned with how food looks on a plate. Want my slaved-over meal to take center stage!

That said, when's dinner? I'm on my way...

They'd be fine, but your rooster chandelier might get frightened. ;>

I've looked at those before and decided that there was too much I didn't like about them, although I do like dramatic china.

How about JL Coquet

It is very dramatic looking, and your dining room has the ability to carry off dramatic china. The medusa head would not bother me at all (I love mythology), I would think it was great fun if I were to be a guest and get to eat from it! :-)

Price is such a personal thing though...for some people $250 a place setting is affordable, and that's okay. If it were me, I would only spend that money on something more netural...but then I always tend to err on the safe side.

If you do end up buying it though, please post photos bc I'm sure it would look great in your dining room.

I really like it - Medusa head and all. :) I can't imagine why anyone would think you were a crackpot if you used it! Very sophisticated, and I love the colors!

I like how jenny said it-$ is a personal thing and these dishes are FUN!!! and if that fits your needs right now and there is no down side (ie-debt) then enjoy! go for it! and I wish we could have 5 sets of dishes for different feelings/experiences and I really like these dishes! Even if they had been less $$$

Igloochic, maybe this will help to envision the china itself in a tablesetting...., here is a pic from my inspiration file. It is a pattern I have loved for years (I love drama, as well as simplicity LOL). As you can see, in this case the table was set without the smaller plate (the "head"). I like the whole set myself, it is really a matter of personal preferance. I also like to think of a plate "border" as the frame for the food/art. Some food demands simplicity, and other shine with drama. IMHO Oh yes, to answer your question....I would love to be served dinner on these plates, in your lovely dining room.

{{!gwi}}

LOL I was all set to re think this until Judith's post. Seeing the plates with "my" glass ware (that dessert cup is german but it's much like my venetian glass...and I actually have quite a bit of german glass like that) I think they're perfect.

I had to giggle reading this. They seem to be the type of dish you either love or hate.

I won't remember to answer every post, but for a few...for those who are afraid of the faces...I'll cover them with salad LMAO And I kind of like the idea of the suprise heh heh (I wouldn't mind an over the top dinner table like birdcage).

The dishes would only be for our most formal parties. I'd probably do 10 settings (since we can't sit more than that in the dining room at once). And I'd actually use my own salad plates more than the faces (they might come out for dessert or an early course, but they're more for looks in my mind). I have several hand blown plates I like to use for salad.

I don't mind the hand wash thing. We won't use them daily. I have a huge collection of restaurant ware (tan ware from the early 20's through 50's if that strikes a bell) that we use on a daily basis. It's chunky, funky, and impossible to destruct. Then for casual entertaining we have a large set of dishes in autumn tones (I can't remember what they are...they aren't china...but they're more formal than the restaurant ware). They tend to chip so we don't use them daily. And then this would be the formal stuff.

I am very particular about serving surfaces (for the person who didn't want her food shown up). I like these because the "food" sits on white, which is how food is supposed to be served. The rim is just the frame for the great meal.

I know it's an investment given the cost, but I'm not going into debt to get them (probably will call it my christmas gift....but I won't mention it to DH until he's purchased my jewelry so I get both heh heh). And I don't plan on keeping them for the rest of my life. I can change them out someday if I get bored with the quirkyness of them.

I did see them in person, and I have to say that the quality is similar to some of the best german china I've ever seen (I fell in love with china while traveling there). They're quite delicate as china is supposed to be. You don't see that in the picture, but rest assured, when you touch them, you can see why they're priced so high.

My biggest worry was if they were too quirky (but that seems to be a draw LOL) and being a bit of a snob...I want a VERY different china than what everyone else has...I like to be unique (heck I have a chicken chandelier so I must) and if they're sold at Costco....well I might end up seeing them at someone else's house one night :O( And that wouldn't make me happy. But given the comments here...I think only 3% of the population will consider buying them...or less. I wonder if they'll go on sale? :oP

Igloo, I like them. If they had not been labeled "Madusa head" I might not have even called it that. (I can't get it to zoom enuf) I like the mix/match, not all plates are the same, look myself. However I like the Noritake Xavier Gold pattern mentioned too. Too bad that wasn't the mix/match look. At one point Christian Dior was doing some very bold patterns, don't know if they are still doing that. If the head thing bothers you, what other patterns does Versace make?
Ask yourself if it's the mix/match pattern that attracts you, the color or the unexpected head part that was the first thing that grabbed you? When you know that, you could find a replacement should you opt out of the Versace. I wouldn't let the Medusa thing bother me and I'd actually like the conversations it brought up. Just be sure you can retell her whole entire story, you may be asked at every dinner party!! Hey, you could start a new trend. "Greek & Roman Mythology decor" I can just picture it now. You could try it out on your little townhouse project/investment.
Let us know what you do, I'll be curious to see what happens. :)

IChic - What about Royal Doulton Imperial

Or Royal Doulton Tennyson

I think the china is gorgeous and looks very Italian. I like the fact that the food section is white - food really does look best on white. The dishes are rich, sumptuous and I'd love to have them.

Piper, you beat me to the punch, I was going to post the Royal Doulton Tennyson, especially since this is the pattern I have!

Personally, I'm afraid of what I'd do if while eating my salad I came to that face staring back at me! It's just plain creepy to me.
I perfer the Barocco, but with those prices I'd be $brarocco$ for sure!

Igloo,
They are German. I had some place settings of this pattern before returning them years ago. They were made by Rosenthal for Versace. What bothered me about them was not the Medusa, per se, but I felt there was something about the glaze that didn't seem deep enough, especially the red, even though they were made by Rosenthal. I'm pretty sure this was the pattern Madonna registered when she married Sean Penn, BTW.

Hi,
The colors and pattern are dead-on for someone wanting to recreate a Neo-Grec dining room circa 1860-70. The designer must have done his research. See the Bradbury&Bradbury Neo-Grec wallpaper roomset.
Casey

Here is a link that might be useful: Neo-Grec roomset

I think the plates are unique and quite lovely. Maybe not $250 a pop lovely, but still. Oh, and as an organic, brown-rice-lovin' vegan, I ain't askeered of Medusa one bit. So there. ;-)

I think they are very elegent and dramatic as is your Din. rm.

LOL KD you've done better homework than I have! I had the little one with me when I saw them, so other than a quick look I wasn't able to give them a real once over. No wonder they "reminded me" of German china DOH! Cuz they are stupid LOL

I think I'll pick up a place setting and bring it home so I can give it a very thorough look over without a two year old (talk about a bull in a china shop). What I like about the pattern is it's uniqueness (and while I like many of the patterns ya'll have shown me...I don't know...they still don't have that umph I want). But perhaps I just don't have enough china to look at here (our stores tend to carry less china...and most of them are pretty traditional, with a few very modern pieces thrown in). I don't totally traditional, and I don't want modern for sure...but I do want drama!

We'll be in Minnesota for Thanksgiving. I would imagine I could find a big china shop in the city to see some other patterns (DH loves this by the way....he's as goofy as I am LOL)

I don't dislike them; I just didn't like them enough. I thought the shapes and the gold were great. But I liked the concept of those dishes more than the execution. If you love them, go for it. I was more knocked out by some of the Coquet and other Limoges patterns. Also, remember the effect will be intensified when you have 10 settings on the table. For example, I like Carat Gold, Khazard, and some of the other wild gold ones better, maybe mixed with some other red. I ended up with carat service plates and canapes and mix them with a lot of other patterns. I do think Art Deco pieces would be great in your dining room. Along with various other motifs.

In a word: yes.

:-)

I like them! They are a bit risque but that's what keeps something from looking ordinary! (I like risque!) I saw them at Costco too. Costco has such a great return policy... I bet you can get one set and see what it looks like in your room.

Your dining room is gorgeous---you'll be especially excited to entertain with those plates! (Judithva's pic is a winner)

As a guest, here's what would scare me -- DROPPING ONE! YIKES! I would be afraid to touch those, not because of Medusa, but because of the value! And when guests are nervous about breaking the china, they won't help you wash dishes. LOL

And while we're at it...how many forks around your place settings? :-)

Cameron

Cameron, I NEVER allow guests to wash dishes after a dinner party :oP It's a hard and fast rule in our house (we normally retire for Port and then go to bed with a kitchen full of dishes...and if it's a big party we have a housekeeper come in and clean the next morning). I'm a bit lazy that way (or I have a 2 year old...one or the other is a great excuse not to do dishes)

But I would also never even hint at their costs to a guest. I learned that the hard way when I was having a dinner party many years ago. Someone wanted to know where I'd gotten the water goblets. It's a funny story, one of those "Masterpieces in the garbage" types of stories (I paid $60 each for them ($600 for the set) and they threw in the extra pieces for a huge set because they thought they were an unmarked steuben set but couldn't find it in any books at a little antique store). As it turns out, they have quite a history and they're very valuable (the goblets are valued at $500 each and the swans (salts) over $1000 each. It's a funny story and many people know it because we were on antique roadshow with them, but this gal didn't and she would NEVER touch the stupid glasses again. I paid sixty bucks for the silly things...their value is in their beauty and their ability to be used. If they break, oh well! (And over the years only one has broken...and I did it LOL) but this gal would never touch them again after that. I had to use different glasses so she'd drink water :OP

So now I just set them out and keep my mouth shut, good story or not! And since I'm in another state, my frightened guest never again had to worry about eating with us again LOL

How many forks...it depends on what we're serving. For a formal dinner, normally an appetizer fork, salad fork and a main dinner fork, and often a dessert fork (or spoon) over the top of the plate setting. If it's family dinner, just two.

Although they may be expensive, it does not seem a mass-produced item and as such, the value should only increase, something nice to pass along to your 2-year-old and his wife that he will recall helping mommy shop for or maybe not, but I think you should get them. You will not be happy if you do not and what gives you pleasure should be priority on your agenda.

If I saw pieces of that stuff at the second hand shop, I'd buy them for sure, not knowing what the original price was, it's just so quirky. So I approve. Except I don't approve of the price... expensive breakables scare me a bit, much more than medusa heads.

If you served me dinner on that china, I would:

1. Be excited to have someone else making me dinner

2. Enjoy the tremendous food that I'm sure you serve

3 . Love looking at and talking about the Medusa heads uncovered on my china.

4. Admire your bold sense of style and extravagant use of color.

5. Be inspired by your strong sense of design, and start to wonder how I could bring more color and individuality into my own home.

I would NOT think you are on crack! :-)

The pattern is lovely, the colors are glorious, the design is unique and different. Igloochic, what is there NOT to love? It is not a pattern I would choose for myself, but it seems like it would fit beautifully in your dining room, the colors and design are truly voluptuous, and conversation would never lag with china like that to talk about! I say go for it, girl!

:-)

~Lynne

A lot of people seem to be turned off of the idea of the Medusa head...because they are expecting to see a drawing of a head of snakes.., so here is a close up of the Bread and Butter plate with the Medusa head on it...the hair is just rendered like "fat" pieces of hair, not a realistic drawing of snakes coming out from her head, the 2 under the chin, might be the closest look to "snakes", but even then it is still a very light "touch".

I see by the "preview" it is still a bit blurry, but if you go to the Neimum Marcus web site (where I copied this), you can "focus up" on the dishes and it is very clear to see.

{{!gwi}}

Love it!! Very different! My only problem with it would be the high price--don't know if the design would stand up over time--your tastes might change....that is why I prefer to hit HomeGoods--get some fun, funky dinnerware that is not an investment..but again, if you don't mind the price tag--think your table will be divine..
Susan

I think they are interesting, and I would think perhaps fun to have as a extra set of china to use at a big dramatic dinner or perhaps for new year's? I wouldn't want them as my only china. But it sounds like that would be how they would work for you.

The medusa head isn't a big deal to me, the cherubs on the plates would annoy me more. LOL But the color is another issue - the red seems very pink to me. I would for sure want to see them in person.

Personally, tho, if you want unique, I would rather see a mix and match approach, perhaps finding several different patterns that play nice together and buy some pieces of each of them to use in a variety of settings on the table. Maybe some of these, some with similar colors in a different pattern, some with a heavy gold rim, maybe a black and gold pattern, etc. Perhaps four place settings of each to mix.

Oh, and first I would buy some new placemats, even for every day. LOL

OK, that doesn't look like a snake-headed Medusa.

It kinda looks like Lenny Kravitz. ;-D

Wow, something that I just noticed, in the 2 pic's I posted earlier...there is indeed cherubs in the design, BUT in the link to Costco's (that Igloo is referring to) there is a whole different design in the larger plates...(no cherub), perhaps the plates have since been redesigned without the "cherubs"

Costco's Design

a href="http://photobucket.com"; target="_blank">{{!gwi}}

AND

{{!gwi}}

And the Nemium Marcus (spelling) DESIGN:
{{!gwi}}

They look like fun dishes in a different sort of way. But I would never consider something like that to be fine china. They remind me of what you'd find at an urban strip mall Chinese buffet $5.99 lunch special. Sorry!

Hmmm, now that you have posted the pix, perhaps the Costco is a knock-off or a version for a less-expensive market? Much less detail, less design. I actually like them better, but they certainly aren't the same plates.

Oh, gosh I Just noticed the cups - sorry, those are ugly, hate the handles!

Judith,
I think the NM ones are chargers, whereas the Costco ones are dinner plates. I thought the red had an oddness to it that would be difficult for me to work with, but then I have red silk curtains and red bizarre-patterned chairs already, which limit the shades I can use (and the guests who can relate to me :)). Igloo has no red, so that may not be a worry.

Here is the setting with the "Low cup" as they phrase it.

{{!gwi}}

Oooooh, what is wrong with me? I think the cups are wicked cool!

I like the cups; in fact, the shapes of the tall ones were one of the things I did like about the pattern. LOL. The idea of advertising the Versace logo didn't appeal to me that much, nor did the red glaze, nor did actually holding the cup handle. But I thought it was cool looking.

Heh heh, these are quite the controversy :oP I guess I have to see what the Versache logo is (since I didn't recognize it in the pattern). I thought the cups were fun, but actually when we serve coffee, we do that in the library and we use nice big chunky hand thrown mugs that I have collected from all over so these would be just for fun (or china cabinet decoration I guess).

The red is rather tomatoe like. It's not pink at all. I have no red in the dining room so it won't clash with anything. I was going to have to buy several filler pieces elsewhere so I'll do a bit more research on the pattern. I don't have to buy it at Costco...but their price is cheaper. I'll email Rosenthal and ask if the Costco pattern is a different pattern, and if the quality is different than anything I'd buy elsewhere. Typically on this type of stuff it's not different...but you never know.

They wouldn't be my "only" china....well I suppose they would be, but they wouldn't be my only formal dishes. My texas dishes (that's where I purchased them) were hand made in Italy. They're quite nice, they just chip easily so I don't love using them as I thought I would. We ues those more often than anything. If we entertained we'd use restaurant china (rented) it if was a group larger than a dozen or so.

THere is another set that is sold at costco which is black as the primary color. It would blend with these well, so I might mix and match sets. I will have to pick up one of each and see what it looks like with my things after we get into the new place this week. I'll post some pics and see what ya'll think then :o)

I think the china is fabulous, and if the pieces garner this much conversation on the internet just imagine the talk they would inspire in person!!
I would love to have you serve dinner to me on them, as long as after dinner, port in hand, I could see your collection of nature inspired pulls and hardware!!

Those empty eyes are really scary. Unfortunately, I think you'd get more negatives comments on these dishes than compliments. It's a dead person looking at you while you're eating. I'd love for you to get what you like but I think your friends and family will be scared.

Turning to stone over your meal!

Personally, I like them as "fun" and the wings of mercury handles are amusing. I think that they're trying to be more fabulous than they really are (if that makes any sense) but I tend to think far too much about china patterns because I have a dish affliction.

Besides, my "good" dishes have minotours and gryphons around the edges so my taste is suspect to begin with.

Nina

I like them! If I were out antiquing w/ my mom I'd stop in a heartbeat to take a 2nd look.

I think they're kind of Art Nouveau, actually, vaguely Klimt-y. Love them. Rich and stylish and sensuous. Pricey, but if you love them, go for it. No crack involved that I can discern. (:

i love them!

I just twigged on something. Am I wrong, or is that Medusa the Versacci logo?

Nina