If you’ve been with me for awhile you know I have a love affair with dishes. Of course I love nothing better than to set a beautiful table. We are watching the grand boys on Wednesdays this summer. The husband came up with a new term for Wednesdays. We are calling them wacky Wednesdays! While eating breakfast last week I asked them if they knew how to set a table. They are 10 and 8. They said well I think so, but the eight year old said you put some dishes and silverware on the table and then you put a bunch of fancy stuff in the middle. Got to love this kid he notices everything! Needless to say we will be developing this skill this summer. It is past time.
My love affair with dishes came down thru my mom. She didn’t see dishes the way most people think of dishes. She saw the potential of using them as art. Mom was never one to line up a bunch of plates in a row on a shelf. She had way to much talent for that. She began to use these pieces in wall arrangements and any excuse to punch another hole in the wall!.
My own collection started with blue and white transferware. My bed (one built by my dad and myself) is shaped so that it is difficult to just put a picture above. When I first got the bed I knew I was going to need to be more creative. Thus started the collection of antique blue and white. This collection has sustained me for over 30 years and I am still using it just in a different capacity.
Yeah there are a lot of dishes on this wall above my bed. 21 to be exact! Maybe a bit too much for this small room but I loved it for a lot of years. The composition works because everything is different. There are of course platters 4 to be exact, but there are also dinner plates, supper plates, salad plates, tea waste bowls, and tea saucers and even a cream soup bowl. From left to right I balanced every plate with one the same size on the other side. Even though the plates don’t match by balancing their color or placing a similar border to the other side it helped to create a cohesive composition. Did I need the tin sconces? Probably not, but I do think it added a little something extra to the wall. If everything was round and the same size it just wouldn’t have worked. What was the first piece I bought? The small platter on the right for 10.00 with a chip. Yup, I don’t let that deter me. As this collection grew I started to upgrade to older pieces that were more rare. The small platter on the left is a very common pattern but it was cheap and the size balanced the platter on the right. I bought it after I had stopped collecting but needed that one last size. It was a yeah that will work, buy. Yes I have those too. And by the way when collecting it is just as important to know when you have enough!!!
Changing Sconces created a bit more breathing room.
Same room different look. Here I’ve added a print to the mix and my very small collection of ironstone dishes I picked up for a few bucks at the antique mall. Same system vary the sizes and shapes, balance to the other side. Looking at this now I see the arrangement is to round. This is due to the size of the plates that I had to use. Again the plates are different but there are several pairs here.
And here is this room now. New paint color and bedding. A much cleaner look. These were my moms plates. Late 18th Century the pattern is called “Corian”. This was one of her smaller collections and it is all here on the wall. These dishes I had every intention of selling but when I found this quilt at Pottery Barn last year I knew they belonged together. The composition is much more restrained and pleasing to my eye. I think the oil painting of the eggs goes a long way in anchoring the space. The two butter pats are not “Corian” and are not “Mulberry”. I was so excited when I found them on Ebay and they looked black and said they were “Mulberry” which is black. They are blue but they work for now and of course the plate in the middle is a pattern by the name of “Canova”. Doesn’t bother me that it is different. But this is one case where I feel that the repetition of the same pattern (for the most part) works.
I’ve used plates as art all over my home. Antique plates can be worked into wall arrangements of most any kind.
A brown and white fish platter picked up in Indiana helps to hold my wall of mirrors going down to my very messy lower level room where we continue work on the Powder Room!
In my tiny entry I have used antique Doulton “Gypsy’s” I just have a few of these plates scattered. I’ve always loved the soft earthy colors and find that they sing no matter where I put them.
Just three on a very small wall in my living room help to tie all the colors in that room together.
And one last thing. While working our Assistance League Omaha Online Thrift Shop (I’m in charge) we received a ton of blue Royal Copenhagen and Bing and Grondahl dishes. There are so many of these available now I thought it would be fun to try and change perspective a bit. What if you used these dishes as dishes!!! They would be marvelous on a plate stack so I went into our brick and mortar Thrift Shop and gathered up some donated stuff. Totally random and certainly not one of my best efforts but look how pretty these dishes are added to a plate stack .
I hope this gives you some ideas for your own walls and helps you to think outside the box. There are so many wonderful dishes sitting inside boxes in the basement or cupboard. Get them out, mix them up and see what you can create. You might just surprise yourself!
Thanks for stopping!
Shelley
