Do you have an especially cherished set of dishes? I have many that are special to me for various reasons, but one of the most meaningful is my mother’s green ivy dishes. The ivy wreaths on the classic white dishes with a green trim have always caught my eye.
Ivy is a greenery that I always have in abundance. I love using greenery as the basis for a tablescape, because it is a simple and quick way to bring a table to life. It can be added to your décor no matter the season.
On this table, the greenery is arranged in a simple terra cotta pot. This basic but impactful centerpiece allows the focus to still be on the dishes. White napkins and candles are perfect complements to the green placemats and glasses.
If you have an especially meaningful set of dishes, show them off! Let the dishes set the tone and then tie in coordinating linens for a cohesive theme. A simple centerpiece, with a greenery such as ivy, is pleasing to the eye and keeps the dishes as the star of your table.
Do you have an especially cherished set of dishes?
Comments 24
I am the proud possessor of 20 place settings of this Fransican Ivy pattern, including at least one of every serving piece produced! It was my Mom’s collection. Oh the happy memories I have of our extended family celebrating holidays and special occasions while eating from these beauties! Thanks for evoking my walk down Memory Lane, Phyllis!
Such a lovely table. I too have so many sets of china and enjoy collecting the items that set a table. I do not have the ivy china but I do have the ivy teapot and sugar and creamer made by McCoy. It is a lovely set and the teapot has a handle made to look like a twig.
I too love the ivy pattern! I am blessed to have a few of the older ivy serving pieces in my collection. They are timeless!
I adore ivy so much that I used ivy and pumpkins as a motif that adorns my kitchen all year long ! In this way, I am able to enjoy “my favorite things”on display every day!
I love dishes!!! I always have and have several sets. I immediately forwarded this blog to a friend whose mother had the ivy dishes. She loves dishes as much as I do. My mother used to use a different set of dishes each month depending on the season and color. Some of the dishes were not fancy but the color was right. I attended a wedding this past weekend and the bride used a different set of dishes on each table at the luncheon following the wedding. There were about 12 to 13 tables of 8 – each sporting a different type of china with decorations to coordinate with that set of dishes.
What a lovely green and white table! Green is and always has been my favorite color!
Like many of us who enjoy your essays, I have far too many china, crystal and flatware pieces. Choosing just one favorite is impossible – each pattern or piece is special in its own way. Today is the Autumnal equinox and that brings thoughts of using our Havilland Autumn Leaf china — if we ever get any cool crisp fall days here in Texas!
I too love different plate setting for different occasions and special meals. My husband and I love our breakfast together. I have a collection of plates for two and some are small platters that I have purchased from cheese shops. I rotate them for the season and when Christmas comes I have some fun sets from our trips to Mn. to visit his Mom. A lot of the dishes/platters have Italian designs. We even have some colorful designed melamine that we take out on the patio when we decide to eat outside and enjoy the birds and trees. I also use different wine and glassware to serve our seasonal fruit in. It just makes our meal time extra special. My husband even picks out dishes he thinks would make our time together extra special, I guess its even the small gestures that we make in life having meals together and what we eat on and the meal itself that does mean for time well spent together. Life is precious. Carmel
To Gail, who asked about the green glasses, those are green boopie bubble glasses by Anchor Hocking.
Oh, that Ivy pattern is so familiar! My mother bought 3 sets of Franciscan dishes back in the 60’s. Ivy was for her, Desert Rose for her mother, and another for my father’s mother. I can’t remember if hers was the Apple or maybe something with blue. The Desert Rose sat for a long time in Grandma’s house after she passed away and when my sister and her family moved in the house, she asked me if I wanted them. I had seen them used along with pink Depression Glass in a magazine, so I was thrilled to get them!
Dear Phyllis,
It looks lovely. So good to see so many ladies enjoy a beautiful table setting.
In my opinion, the Queen of Tablescapes is Carolyne Roehm. You are lucky to have her in the States.
Cheers,
Marie
I love dishes, too. Phyllis, please show us how and where you store your collection?
Answering your question is like answering which is your favorite child. I only have one child, but have too many sets of china, dishes, tea sets and pieces of depression glass. Five of my sets are Christmas patterns. I also collect vintage sterling (my favorite is Strasbourg by Gorham) I have Waterford crystal (Kildare)and mix it often with Fenton goblets. But with all my excess, my most cherished pieces are 6 salad plates, amber Cabbage Rose pattern, that was given to me when I was 11 years old by a neighbor. She and I would have cake or pie in the evening together. She never had children. When her nephew had to admit her to a nursing home and close and dispose of her home, she instructed him to make sure Susan got those little plates. I kept them all these 50+ years and I do use them occasionally. They were special at 11 and have become more special as I have matured and realized how special that time must have been to Ma Pete (Ms. Petterson)then. My daughter knows the story and I know she will cherish them and the memory when they are passed on to her.
Does anyone know what those green tea glasses are? My mother had those!
Gail,
They looked like Vintage Anchor Hocking Forest Green Burple or Boopie Pattern.
Gorgeous and so classy.
Marilyn
Beautiful and luxuriant. Full of life and very sentimental too.
ty
I, too, love a beautifully set table! Bring on the fine china, Sterling flatware and Crystal on tablecloths with co-ordinating napkins!
I (we, Mom & I ) have many sets of dishes and parts is sets. A lady I cared for gifted me,for Mother’s Day, with 2 place settings of her mother’s China, a Homer Laughlin pattern that is a cream color with wheat and light blue accents which is our Mother’s Day choice if we are alone.
My church has a Lady’s Tea each Spring and I use a different set each year. Planning for Spring 2017 has begun!
I have my grandmother’s set of clear ruby red dishes she received for their fortieth anniversary in 1941. I was so thrilled when my aunt asked if I would like them. I use them every Christmas and leave them out on my table through the valentine’s holiday. My grandparents had 10 children so with spouses it totaled 22 when they were all together, thus they received 2 sets of 12 place settings. It is remarkable theses dishes are 65 years old & most of them are in very good condition.
I too have many sets of dishes…Calico being one of my favourite. But every fall, I pull out my mother in law’s cream coloured set. The dishes, plates, bowls, cups all have the loveliest subtle design of fruit on them…in muted autumnal colours. By the way, happy first day of fall to everyone!
I just love dishes and your tablescape is lovely. I wish I could buy all the dishes I envy but I don’t have storage for what I have now. I love transferware but have none. What I did buy was a set of Lenox Winter Greetings, when it first came out. Although it’s pushed for Christmas, I can use it during the winter months whenever I please. I love the cardinals, chickadees and nuthatches that adorn it. My Mother gave me her set of dishes that my Aunt gifted her. Unfortunately only two teacups remain and that’s the best piece of all. The outside of the pieces are decorated with Oriental people and there’s a dragon on the teapot/creamer/sugar bowl. In the bottom of the very thin delicate cups you see a white raised impression of a gorgeous Oriental lady but if you lift it up to the light she comes to life. You can almost count the hairs on her head. I searched online and one description was Hand Painted Kutani Lithophane Geisha Girl Porcelain. The technique of the lady is called Lithopane. Some of the gold has rubbed off but I still love the set. One cup was broken long ago and one was chipped. Mother was going to toss it out but I took it and made it into a vignette for my vanity. I put a small monogrammed sachet in it, several strands of fake pearls, a rhinestone studded brooch and it’s awesome. Because I showed interest and saved one bad cup she gifted the set to me. I’m glad I have at least two good ones and the memories that go with it.
What a beautiful table Phyllis. I adore the color green – it’s so majestic The ivy pot is one of my favorites. I managed to propagate a few plants this summer and will be bringing them into the house for the winter soon. Thank you for sharing.
My husband’s Great Aunt came for a visit and promised to cook a scrumptious dinner. She asked me to leave the kitchen to her and encouraged me to catch up on some reading.
A couple of hours later, my husband opened the bedroom door and said it was time for dinner. All eyes were on me as I entered the dining room. Our cranberry colored tablecloth was set with her white Fenton Classic Crest dishes, bowls, platters and vase.
The contrast of the ruffled dishes with my cranberry glass was stunning. She thanked me for allowing her time in our kitchen and hoped that I loved the dishes as much as she had over the years because they now belonged to us! A favorite gift, that we very much enjoy using, from a kindred spirit.
What a special set! I’ve recently been gleefully filling in the few remaining gaps of my formal china in preparation for the upcoming holidays. Despite the trend towards more informal entertaining, we still cherish setting a lovely table with all of our best tabletop for family and friends. I keep it all handy and ready to go, so it is just as easy to use my china, etc. as it is to put out the everyday. Just found the perfect Jacquard de Francaise napkins yesterday after all these years of looking. Squeeeee!
I am a dish junkie! I have my grandmother’s apple pattern. Franciscan Ware , like your Ivy dishes. I also have a set of ruby glasses to go with them. I must say I am so disappointed about the demise of your Celebrate magazine. It was my favorite! I gave a lot of subscriptions as gifts…
Just beautiful. I love the green glasses with them.
How beautiful your Mother’s Ivy dishes are Phyllis. Being a French antique dealer, I have way more dishes that I’ve “kept” than I should have. But my favorite set of dishes is still a set that I was blessed to receive as gifts from my mother, aunts and parents-in-law, piece by piece, it’s Wedgwood Edme plain. A classic cream pattern, I adore it not just for who gifted each piece to me, but also because it combines with every other set of dishes I own.