A Vintage Spring Flowers Tablescape
I am reposting a tablescape that I did six years ago, I love these dishes! Everything on this tablescape is vintage except for the flatware, the place card holders, and one goblet set. Well, the faux flowers aren’t either but you get the picture. The light green tablecloth and napkins are a vintage damask set I found on Ebay several years ago. It’s not easy to find a vintage damask tablecloth with matching napkins and I was fortunate to find this set. The tablecloth is just barely long enough. When I iron and use damask table linens it always makes me think of my mother who loved white damask tablecloths. I actually enjoy ironing good vintage damask because with a steam iron it is so easy to get the wrinkles out, the iron just glides over the fabric. And yes, I will remove the centerpiece so people can see each other while they eat and chat.
These plates were made by Schumann-Bavaria. The factory was founded in Arzberg, Bavaria, Germany in 1881 and went out of business in 1994. The pattern is called Empress, Dresden Flowers. The plates have different markings on the back and some say Germany US Zone, they were made in the 1940’s. The first time I saw this pattern I loved it, and I bought a few plates at a time over the years on Ebay. I love all the different colored flowers and the raised design on the rim with the gold accents.
There are different flower designs on the center of these plates as you can see on the previous salad plate and this dinner plate.
This 11” charger plate is difficult to find. As you can see, the center design is different on this one than the previous two plates. The flowers around the rim are so colorful here and I love the green leaf accents.
I think this china pattern dictates a more formal table setting so I used folded napkins without napkin rings. The gold flatware matches the gold rim on the plates. This gold plated flatware set was a Christmas gift from Hubby one year. I had bought a cheap set of gold flatware several years ago. It was poor quality and the gold started flaking off. You get what you pay for! We found this set on major sale at Macys. It is made by Wallace and the pattern is called Mikasa Duchess Gold. It is brighter than this photo shows and it is heavy. I love the design on the handle.
I was looking for a gold place card holder and found these inexpensive ones on Amazon. They are made by Gray Bunny.
I tried different colored goblets on this table but they all looked a bit overpowering so I ended up with clear glass goblets. My wedding crystal, a Waterford Lismore goblet is on the right. On the left is another Waterford goblet but a less expensive pattern. It is Marquis by Waterford and the pattern is called Brady. I bought them at HomeGoods. Just as plates have increased in size over the decades I think some goblets have as well.
I wanted to add a bit more interest to the table so I raided my china cabinets. This rose bowl is one of my most cherished possessions. It was my mother’s, I think it was a wedding gift to her in 1938. I can remember it sitting on a shelf while I was growing up and I have always loved the hand-painted flowers. The bottom says, “Made in Czechoslovakia”. It has some of the same colors that the plates have. I have it tucked away in a china cabinet for safe keeping.
Hubby found this Fenton Thumbprint ruffled glass bowl at an estate sale and brought it home for me. It had a sticker with a name and 1940 on the bottom. When I looked for the name on Ancestry I found a woman who died in Wisconsin in 1953. How it got to Southern California, I don’t know!
Just for fun I added a cut glass cream and sugar set.
And a cut glass salt and pepper set too, I love the cut glass patterns on the bases of this set.
This large white pottery vase is one of a pair of vases that I inherited from my mother. She received the pair of vases as a wedding present in 1938.
As I was finishing writing this post, the sun was setting and shining on the table from the front living room windows that face west. I love how that looks, the light and shadow.
In my book, vintage never grows old!
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