A Vintage Spring Flowers Tablescape
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, 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.
These plates were made by Schumann-Bavaria. The factory was founded in Arzberg, Bavaria, Germany in 1881 and went out of business in 1994. This 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. I just bought a sixth one this past month so I could do a tablescape with them. 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 was a gift from Hubby this past Christmas season. 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 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 were all a bit overpowering so I ended up with clear glass. My wedding crystal, a Waterford Lismore goblet is on the right. On the left is another Waterford goblet but a less expensive pattern, I think it is Marquis by Waterford Markham. I bought them at HomeGoods. Just as plates have increased in size over the decades I think some goblets have as well. I used these same goblets on last week’s tablescape.
I wanted to add a bit more interest to the table so I raided the 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. I love 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 salt and pepper set too, I love the cut glass patterns on the bases of these. I used this set on last week’s tablescape too.
This large white pottery vase is one of a pair that I inherited from my mother. She received them as a wedding present in 1938.
As I finished writing this post, the sun was setting and shining on the table from the front windows that face west. I love how that looks, the light and shadow.
In my book, vintage never grows old!
For another Spring tablescape that I did last year check out the following link to my blog post about it: https://www.whispersoftheheart.com/blog/2019/4/24/a-table-for-the-birds
For photos and information about 50+ other tablescapes that I have created over the past year, click on tablescapes at the top of this blog post or keep scrolling down here and click on older when you get to the bottom. The posts are mostly about table settings but there are a few other topics as well. (I did three different table settings for Easter last year.) Check back because I post a new tablescape every week, usually on Thursdays.