Vintage Serving Dishes Rental Archives - Page 3 of 5

Vintage Feature – Petite & Sweet Vintage Dishes

Ah, petite and sweet… and, just like the lovely Morticia Addams, these small vintage dishes are delightful. Whether used as a serving dish for berries or a dessert bowl for ice cream, these wee pieces of china are hugely charming.

Vintage petite serving dishes are perfect to display mini delectables like fruit, candies, and small pastries. With their elegant shapes, designs, and patterns your guests with enjoy your treats for both their taste and presentation.

Southern Vintage Table — These petite vintage leaf dishes can hold lemons, candies, or any mini treat!

We have collected a few vintage specialty petite dishes that were, at first, a mystery. We thought these dishes had unique uses and it turns out they do indeed. First, the two handled dishes below are meant to serve lemon slices during teatime and are called – you guessed it – lemon servers!

The next specialty dish is for a vegetable that once was only affordable by affluent households so, of course, it deserved a dish of its very own. What was this highly revered vegetable – celery! And, because celery was so magnificent (and expensive in the late 1800s), this status vegetable was displayed for all to see – in a celery vase. As celery became more affordable but still highly desired, the less prominent flat celery dish evolved. Now, this may be one of our favorite china history lessons of all time and, after learning this, we’ll surely appreciate every crunchy bite of this once coveted vegetable.

This final vintage dish really stumped us at first. I remember holding it in the thrift store, turning it over, and looking at it from all angles, wondering what it was. The strange shape and indentation in the center is the perfect design for – as you can see – holding spoons!

Perhaps our very favorite piece of china is the wee berry bowl. These small bowls are the perfect size for all kinds of edibles, whether it’s a side dish like peas, squash or brunswick stew or desserts like berries, ice cream, or – yum – banana pudding. We have great collection of berry bowls and we’d love to share them with you at your next dinner or event.

No doubt, when you are planning for a celebration or dinner party, it’s always important to remember the essentials – dinner plates, glassware, flatware, linens, etc. Remember, though, the small details – including these petite vintage dishes – are also wonderful to add to your list!

Southern Vintage Table Event – Vibrant, Vivid, & Vintage Dinner Party

We totally love setting the tables for big family events like weddings and family reunions, but we are also absolutely delighted to help with intimate celebrations. These smaller gatherings allow us the opportunity to showcase some of our speciality china and decor collections. And, this past weekend we were so pleased to set the table for a festive dinner party.

Our client was hosting a wine and dinner party featuring Spanish wines and dishes. Her vision included vivid spring colors of pinks and greens and we knew our lovely hand-painted pieces from Blue Ridge Pottery and Stetson China would be the perfect fit. Paired with our vintage printed tablecloth, these bold, vibrant patterns from the 1940s-1960s set the perfect mood for her guests. Our table creation was vibrant and stunning, ready for a fun evening with delicious food and Spanish wine tastings!

Thinking about hosting a dinner party with a vintage flair? We are ready to help!

Vintage Feature – Our 3 Reasons to Host a Family-Style Reception!

Plated, buffet, family style – how will your guests enjoy that delicious meal at your party or reception? There isn’t a right or wrong answer, of course, but let us share three reasons you should consider family-style!

Reason 1 – Family-style dinners can feel more intimate.

A lovely memory most of us share is sitting down to a family meal. Home-cooked food, presented on platters and in bowls, are passed down the table as everyone fills their plate. Conversation flows and folks feel connected. This sense of communion is the first great reason to consider a family style dinner!

Reason 2 – Family-style dining is casual yet elegant.

With family-style dining, guests are all seated rather than standing in line at the buffet table, and eating at the same time. But, in contrast to a plated dinner, your guests can make their own selections and portions. You might also consider a combination plated/family-style dinner by plating the dinner salad or first course, and then serving the remaining menu items family style. Be sure to consult with your caterer about how the menu fits the type of reception dinner.

Reason 3 – Southern Vintage Table has a great inventory of vintage serving dishes!

Presentation is part of the dining experience and our vintage bowls will definitely add flair to any meal. We have more than 120 vintage bowls and platters (china, ceramic, & glass) in our inventory, not including our 12 deviled egg trays and we know how important that is on a southern menu!

Give us a call or send an email – we’re ready to help you plan your family-style dinner!

After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relatives.
-Oscar Wilde

Southern Vintage Table Event – A Babies’ Shower!

Delicious food, pretty decorations, fun games, colorfully wrapped gifts, and two beautiful pregnant cousins – yep, it’s a babies’ shower! This past weekend the Heath women and friends all gathered at Tonya’s lovely home to celebrate the upcoming arrival of two babies – Allison & Steven’s baby boy in May and Sarah & Alex’s little girl in June . How wonderful!

With theme colors of teal, pink, and gray, the banners were hung, tulips arranged in vintage white stoneware pitchers, mixed and matched vintage gray & white dishes stacked, and drinks chilled in our sweet pink enameled baby tub. The yummy food and Caroline’s adorable cupcakes were presented on our vintage serving dishes and the party commenced.

In traditional baby shower fashion, we ate, chatted, and laughed – a bunch! We also loved playing Amanda’s party games – Baby Bottle Scratch-Offs, Price is Right Baby Shopping List, and Don’t Say Baby – before ooohing and ahhhing over the darling baby gifts. Needless to say, a good time was had by all.

Now we wait for the babies to arrive and we are all so excited to meet them.
Congratulations to Sarah & Alex and Allison & Steven!

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.
— Leo J. Burke

Vintage Tip – Collaborate with Us to Create a Wish List!

Pinterest is one of the very best social media tools out there – really. On a personal level, it’s perfect for archiving ideas about any topic, hobby, or interest you might have whether it’s recipes you want to try, movies you love, or DIY tips. For a business, it’s a terrific way to reach potential clients by visually showcasing your inventory, work, and visions.

Now, there is another way Pinterest can help a business directly connect with their clients. We didn’t think about it until we saw a blog post by Old South Vintage Rentals, and it’s brilliant! Consider using Pinterest to create a “wish list” with Southern Vintage Table. Even if you don’t already use Pinterest, it’s very easy to set up. Our suggestion is to create a “secret” board, invite us to be a collaborator, and let us know how we can help you.

There are several places you can peruse and then pin our inventory. Look through our many Pinterest boards, our website, especially our inventory slide shows (which we still have more to add), and our Instagram posts. Once you have finished archiving items on our collaborative board, let us know, share details and numbers, and we can provide a quote.

Easy, peezy! Looking forward to collaborating with you!

Vintage Feature – Revisiting Our Vintage Silver Plate Collection

It’s time to showcase the additions to our vintage silver plate collection! In a previous post, “From Elegant to Rustic, Vintage Silver Plate is Chic,” we introduced our silver treasury but since then we have added so much more. Today’s pictorial post features these shiny, timeless, and versatile lovelies – please enjoy!

At present here is our silver collection inventory.
Large & Medium Trays – 20+
Small Trays – 8+
Sugar & Creamers – 20+
Cake Stand – 1
Coffee/Tea Pots – 3 (+one lidless that is a beautiful vase!)
Pitchers – 7
Bowls & Serving Dishes – 8+
Ice Bucket – 1 large with handles (champagne), 1 large tub (4-5 wine bottles), 1 small (1 wine bottle)
Candle Holders – 20+
Bouquet Bowl Candelabra (3 Candle Holders) – 3
Bud Vases – 6+
Goblets – 6
Silver & Glass Coasters – 20+
Flatware Place Settings (Knife, Dinner Fork, Salad/Dessert Fork, Spoon) – 150+

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Vintage Feature – Meet Clarice Cliff from Staffordshire

It’s always a sweet pleasure to find something with a rich backstory and, indeed, one unfolded when I found this vintage tiered stand at a local thrift store. The striking red and white scenic pattern caught my eye as I glanced down the filled shelves. My heart skipped a beat as I picked it up. No cracks or chips – what a nice surprise! I looked for the mark underneath and read a name I’ve never heard before – Clarice.

With the slight crazing visible from the bottom and the unique mark, I knew I found something with an interesting tale – and, as it turns out, it’s the history of an incredibly creative English designer, Clarice Cliff, who made her mark in the pottery world during the Art Deco era of the 1920s-1930s. As I admired the beautiful scene on this pattern, I expected to discover more delicate creations of Clarice’s but her more popular pieces are much more interesting!

According to Wikipedia, Clarice was born in 1899 in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, the heart of England’s pottery industry. She started working as a potter at age 13 and by age 25, Clarice was creating a new line of pottery known as Bizarre Ware with bright, striking colors and unique lines.

During the late 1920s and through the thirties, Clarice enjoyed much success and produced many different bright, colorful, and angular patterns, now highly collectible Art Deco pieces, including Honolulu and Melon. Production took a turn with onset of WWII, and English potteries were allowed to produce only white tableware. Following the war, the market returned to the traditional English patterns, which is when Tonquin was manufactured for the overseas market, including the United States.

After the war, although Cliff was occasionally nostalgic for the ‘Bizarre’ years, as witnessed in personal letters to friends, she seemed to be realistic and accepted the commercial taste was for conservative ware. Clarice seemed to enjoy playing a lesser role at the factory, knowing that she could not recapture those crazy days of the thirties.^[20] Much of the post-war production went to Australia, New Zealand or North America, where the taste was for formal ware in traditional English designs such as Tonquin^[21] rather than the striking patterns and shapes that had established Cliff’s reputation; thus she was never to return to creative work. – Wikipedia

From bizarre to bucolic, Clarice Cliff demonstrated an incredible range of talent during her lifetime, and although she was marginally recognized for her creative genius at the time, today she stands as a major artist of her time. To learn more about her life and work, check out the following sites. And, if you see a “bizarre” piece of pottery on the shelf, look underneath for her name – if it’s there, that would truly be a find!

Learn more about the amazing Clarice Cliff!
Wikipedia – Clarice Cliff
Inside Out – Clarice Cliff
Clarice Cliff
Clarice Cliff Facebook

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Vintage Feature – A Mother’s Grief Kindles a Porcelain Legacy

I saw this unusual candy dish in the thrift store and, I admit, my first impression was that it was a bit gaudy. Without my glasses, I couldn’t read the mark very well but I did see that it was made in Pasadena. The script of the mark and the place clinched the deal – I bought it.

It sat on my table for weeks, and occasionally I’d pick it up and admire it, running my fingers across its smooth, ruffled edge. The muted colors and delicate handiwork of the roses captivated me. Finally, I took a photo and decided to do a little research about its history. I couldn’t find the exact piece but I did see another one that was pretty close. However, it turns out the story of this woman-owned American company was the best part of this vintage find.

According to the International Ceramics Directory, Florence Ceramics began in the early 1940s by Florence Ward, an anguished mother who lost her young son to a rare blood disease. To cope with her grief, she took a ceramics course at the Franklin School for ceramics and pottery. Her artistic talent was quickly revealed in her figurines of women and men dressed in authentic historic dress. Friends admired her work and she began selling her signature pieces from her garage.

As her success grew, Florence Ceramics moved to a large, modern facility in 1949 and began mass producing her figurines. Her employees loved working for the Ward family and high standards were always revered. Eventually, as the story often goes, cheaper reproductions from overseas and the death of her husband caused Florence to sell her business to Script in the early 1960s. According to the eBay article, Florence Ceramics aka Florence of California, “A great era of perfection and detail in porcelain figurines came to an end.”

Alas, I do not have any figurines to share but you won’t be disappointed if you take a look at some of these found at Replacements. So beautifully vintage!

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Got it! I’ll bring popcorn and breakfast parfaits per Louise’s request. See you Friday! Shelly

Vintage Feature – The Purity of Vintage White

This week’s post is simple – one photograph of three vintage white pieces. The story is so much more but I couldn’t pull it all together this week because sometimes, as I recently have been reminded, life happens.

In a future post, I want to tell you more about these vintage white teapots and sugar dish a dear friend shared with me, as well as other pieces in our collection at Southern Vintage Table. In the meantime, I’m certain you will see the pure vintage beauty in these three.

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Vintage Feature – My 5-Step Plan to Sort, Organize & Let Go

Southern Vintage Table has now been in business for about a year and a half but I have been collecting vintage things for almost two. As I reflect on these past two years, I can hardly believe how much I have learned! When I started this company I knew almost nothing about vintage anything. Really. I don’t think I even knew the name of one china pattern and I can’t remember ever ironing a napkin or polishing anything silver. As I gleefully embraced my new-found enterprise, I collected in a frenzy. I probably went hunting at least 5 days a week and, as you can imagine, have amassed quite a collection for our rental business.

Now, however, as hard as I know it will be, it’s time to sort, organize and let go of a few things. As I begin this arduous task, I have come up with a plan – as my friend, Mary would say – and here it is in 5 steps!

Step 1: Pull out my least favorite china patterns.
The operative phrase here is “least favorite” because frankly, I haven’t seen a pattern I haven’t liked. But there are a few in our collection that kinda disappear on the table. Admittedly, these were some of the first pieces I picked up and if I were to find them today, I don’t think they would become part of our inventory.

Step 2: Reduce the numbers of the same pattern.
When I first started my collection, I couldn’t help myself – if I came upon 20 plates in one pattern, I’d buy every one. Today I am a bit more savvy and, if it’s a new pattern, I’ll buy no more than 5. With our philosophy, “a little of a lot”, I want to have lots of many different patterns rather than multiples of the same. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule; I have a few patterns that are just extraordinarily beautiful and I cherish each and every plate in that same pattern.

Step 3: Coordinate a visit to a reseller.
Fortunately, I live close to a huge china reseller and can easily sell my extras to them. The trick is to find out what they are buying and that’s pretty easy. I called and asked for a quote in the patterns I wanted to sell. They sent me one via email and now I know their offer and what to pack up. I made an appointment and I’m headed there next week.

Step 4: Sell via a yard sale or Craigslist.
I’m still working on the details of this but I’m considering joining a parking lot sale a local antique business is sponsoring. For $25, you get 4 spaces to sell your wares. Sounds pretty easy. But then again, I may just skip this step and go straight to Step 5.

Step 5: Donate to a local thrift store.
The only hard part to this step is deciding which one. We have many in our area that support a host of different causes and that’s a good problem to have! I think most of my things are headed to a no-kill animal shelter re-sale store, one of my favorite places to find things for Southern Vintage Table.

With my plan in place, I am now at step 3. By next weekend, hopefully I will have reduced our inventory to our best offerings, ready for your next event! Of course, letting go also means more room for the new, like this vintage cake plate I picked up this week. Don’t you love the manufacturer’s mark on the back?

~ On a side note, the graphics for this post were created using one of my favorite iPad apps, Camera360 (thank you, Caitlin, for sharing!) and BorderFX, a free plug-in for Apple’s Aperture. I had fun creating them!

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