My New Old Dishes

I love mismatched china, as a matter of fact, I find charm in mismatched anything; old wooden pressed-back chairs, antique silver flatware, lace-edged pillow cases and dishes.  I like my collections to look like they have evolved rather than bought as a complete set.  It gives me a special pleasure to point to one piece and say, “that belonged to my great- grandmother, or great aunt, or mother-in-law.” Or “I bought that piece at a little place on the coast of Maine, or Florida or Prince Edward Island.”  I guess I am just a sentimentalist.

For a couple of years now, my everyday dishes have been an evolving mishmash of floral English everyday- wear.  The colours and patterns are fairly consistent; I collect dishes with creamy backgrounds, pinks, yellows and turquoise; mostly from the 1940’s.   I have a variety of platters and serving dishes that make my table look happy.  I have a confession to make, I love hand washing my beautiful collection in my new old-house, with its big white porcelain sink.

 This fall, I decided that the dishes I’ve been using are wonderful for spring and summer, but I needed something a little heartier for the fall and winter.  I didn’t want “Christmas” dishes because the season goes by so quickly, and for those special dinners, I have beautiful English China.  I set my sites on finding odd pieces of transferware.

Transferware is usually available in shades of blues, browns and reds, but occasionally, one can find purples and greens as well.   Transferware became popular in the 19^th Century, as English china makers developed a method of transferring pictures from copper plates to tissue and then it is firing it onto pottery.  Prior to the development of this process, only the rich had access to hand painted dishes. Some of the traditional patterns are I am drawn to are scenes of castles and villages, but altogether no matter what the scenes are the table looks terrific.

The rule I have in collecting these old dishes, is that I will not exceed $10 for any given piece.  I have to admit, I have broken that rule more than once for pitchers and serving dishes.  When I visited my favourite antique store, I found several plates marked at more than $45.  Some of these were exceptional, but for everyday use, my $10 limit seemed more than adequate.  I peruse the Sunday Flea Market, the little antique stores, Fredericton Anti-Poverty,  the Salvation Army Thrift Stores and Value Village in search of these dishes

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