These are a few of my favorite things from my china cabinet. I inherited the china cabinet from my grandparents estate in 1994. It is filled with things that I chose when the time came to move everything from my grandparents condo in Seattle. Many things have sentimental value and a few have monetary value as well. The milk glass coffee cup is purely sentimental! I think everyone's Grandma and Grandpa had one of those coffee cups back in the 60's or 70's!
The teacup and saucer along with the serving dish came from a large collection that my Grandparents received at their wedding in the 1930's. They received 2 sets and when my sister and I were teenagers our Grandma let us choose the set we would like to inherit. I was the oldest and I chose this service for 8. Sorry Sis! Her set was not nearly as grand. I love the floral design. It is Bohemia Royal Ivory in the Supremacy pattern. Made in Czechoslovakia. I think the entire set is nearly complete and is only missing one piece.
I believe the beautiful lady in pink and green is a porcelain German made Powder Box. I love this piece too! She used to reside in my Grandma's guest bathroom. It is one of the only things I specifically asked for. She is in perfect condition. I love the detailing and mix of colors in her dress.
The nude glassware was a gift from my sister. Our Grandma gave them to her years ago. They had belonged to my Great Aunt Marjorie and Great Uncle John E. My Grandparents had had to empty their apartment after Marjorie died and John E. went to a Nursing Home. I guess there were a great many treasures to be found in that apartment. Marjorie had impeccable taste. Marjorie was also a smoker and my Grandparents, who were not had the unpleasant task of wading through all the smoke filled items. A collection of these glasses were found among many other interesting items. A very nice reader of my blog has let me know and I confirmed that these are French made by Bayel Bacchus although I still haven't found any that are in the gold plated trim. Thank you!
The Amethyst purple glass perfume bottle was in my Grandmother's things but I don't remember ever having seen it before then. I'm not sure where it came from originally. It is one of my favorite treasures.
There are many more things in my china cabinet that are not pictured here. I also have a set of 6 very old, thin glass Parfait glasses. All in very delicate shades of pink, yellow and blue with a clear base. These had belonged to my Great Grandmother.
I have a few very fine handkerchiefs that were also made by my Great Grandmother that are laying along the edge of the cabinet shelves on display.
I have a few Dutch clog/shoe figurines as my Great Grandparents were from Holland. There was usually a blue and white theme somewhere in the decor at my Grandma's homes as she had a collection of Delft or Delft-inspired things.
I also have some newer things in the china cabinet. My oldest daughter gave me a beautiful miniature Swarovski glass flower vase with lots of rhinestones to sprinkle on the mirrored display base. I have gifts from the world travels of friends and family over the years. There is a mix of old and new.
My Grandma's "everyday" dishes are in the bottom of the china cabinet. I bring them out when my younger daughter Kristina needs dishes for her annual Tea Party with all of her close girlfriends. Grandma would be very happy that her things are being used.
The china cabinet and all the contents are supposed to go to my oldest daughter when the time comes. I know she will value it as I do. She still remembers her Great Grandma Kay and Grandpa Larry. I hope someday it will go on to my Granddaughter Emma as well and on from there.
I thought I would add this little blurb that my sister just emailed to me about the Bayel stems:
I got the box out not too long ago and took a look inside..I think there are still about 6 in there. And I've NEVER seen the gold dipped ones anywhere else. Grandma absolutely HATED them and was so happy I expressed an interest in them. Funny, because we were just sitting around talking and I told Grandma how I remembered when we were younger going to J & M's and looking into a cabinet they had and seeing these "exotic" gold frosted glasses, not even remembering that they were nude (gasp) and thinking how beautiful they were. She got up, left the room and came back a few minutes later with this old "Chatham Purry Blanket" box tied with string. Opened it up and said "I always thought these were just awful and didn't know what to do with them. I'm so glad someone else wants them." And handed the box to me. I thought there were probably two or so stems in the box just packed really well (because I'd only seen two or so on display) so imagine my surprise when I did open the box to find there were SIXTEEN of them! WOW! And that's why I decided to share them too since I have no need for that many and I certainly wasn't going to sell them.
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