Three Vintage Treasures

I’ve done a lot of posts on thrifting and today I have the pleasure of joining two other “Ladies Who Thrift” for their monthly Blog on “Thrifted Goodies”. Thrifting is a wonderful way to expand your tableware and decorative items for a fraction of the cost of new. Thrifting gives you the chance to be the ultimate recycler and give items that were loved and have stories a new life in your home.

Thrifting takes time but not a lot of it all at once. You can stop into a Thrift Store for a few minutes or an hour, visit weekly or once a month. I love not knowing what treasures I might find when I enter a Thrift Store.

When you bring something home you have the excitement of finding the perfect place or use for your treasure. It might surprise you how some of these treasures can be used to make your decor attractive and unique.

Today I’ll be sharing three such treasures with you. Then I hope you’ll click on the links below to explore what great finds Rachel from The Antiqued Journey and MaryJo from Master “pieces” of My Life are sharing with you today. Thanks, Rachel and MaryJo, for inviting me to join you today. I’m really excited to be a part of your monthly “Thrifted Goodies”.

Click on these links to take you to Rachel and MaryJo’s Blogs

https://www.theantiquedjourney.com/thrifted-goodies-volume-9/

https://masterpiecesofmylife.com/2023/03/28/thrifted-goodies-the-easter-basket-edition

These are the three recent finds I’m sharing today. I’ll also show you how I use them in my home.

I really enjoy finding engravings and prints from years ago.

Some things you might want to look for when purchasing botanicals are indications of a Plate Number as in the upper right hand corner of the first image. Also the actual imprint of the metal plate used to create the image can sometimes be seen on the paper. These three images were drawn and hand-colored by Sydenham Teast Edwards probably in the early 1800’s. He was Welsh and worked for Edward Curtis’s Botanical Magazines. These are hand-colored engravings and quite detailed. There was a huge interest in botanicals in England during this time period. Explorers were returning with seeds and plants from all over the world. Many of these could be found thriving in English gardens and greenhouses.

These three engravings were placed in a special frame that showcases the botanicals and also allows you to see the artist’s name and the engraver’s name. I found it just like this at the Thrift Store for under $20. I was delighted and they are hung in my Morning Room over the doorway leading to the screened porch. I love seeing them each time I go out the door and when I’m sitting at the table in the Morning Room. They make me smile as I look out on my garden.

The next piece I want to share is a very simple stoneware jug. It’s not huge so I sometimes use it for flowers and sometimes it sits next to another stoneware piece beside a 17th century “Cubby”. It’s fascinating to think of those who might have used a jug like this every day. Life would have been very different then but I think those first owners would like to know that someone is still wondering about their life. Today it’s being used as a centerpiece holding some snowball blooms from the garden. Don’t you just love the smooth appearance of the jug?

A few more pictures of the jug. It was a bargain at around $3. It’s probably not as old as some you can find but I loved the shape and texture of the piece with its neutral color.

The third item today is a set of pewter dishes. The set contained 6 dinner plates, six dessert plates, and eight bread and butter plates. The whole set was about $6. Pewter is a great metal and I use it a lot around different holidays. Sometimes I use the largest plate as a charger, if I’m serving brunch or Afternoon Tea. These plates have a lovely scalloped edge and a nice deep rim. The metal is shiny and looks quite nice on the table.

Today I’ve set a table to show you how I recently used some of the plates, the stoneware jug and the botanicals in one setting.

Here’s the overview of the table with a paisley tablecloth in neutrals as the background for the setting. Everything in this setting is thrifted except for the pottery cups which belonged to my Mom.

A closer look shows a rattan charger holding the dinner plate. Between the dinner and salad/dessert plate is a napkin made from sacks of coarse linen. They have a stamp on them in a pretty blue.

I paired the pottery water glass with a colonial style wine glass. The wine glass is quite simple and goes nicely with the setting.

Black anodized flatware seems to suit the setting perfectly. It also emphasizes the tablecloth with its paisley print.

The stoneware jug holds some flowers from the garden adding just a touch of color to the table setting and picking up on the framing of the botanicals hung above the door. It’s nice to have all three treasures together in one setting.

Don’t forget to visit the other Bloggers to see what they have to show you. Thanks for visiting today and sharing these treasures with me.