It’s that time of the week again, when I start looking around my house for inspiration for this week’s tablescape. Although I only have a small hoard cache of items to choose from compared with some of the tablescaping queens, there’s still lots of things to share with you. I wish I had a storage room in my house like the one at Biltmore, where I could store all my pretties in one place.
The Flower Room at Biltmore Estate, where the servants would create fresh floral arrangements for the house. Click into photo for source.
I’m just not in the mood to do a fake Fourth of July tablescape, so I’m waiting until next week when I’ll actually use the table setting to entertain friends. It’s still June, and summer has barely gotten rolling here in Chicagoland!
Click into photo for source.
While cleaning this morning, I rediscovered a beautiful antique Nippon vase that I had tucked away on a shelf. It’s in the Nippon Rose pattern which is going to go beautifully with the delicate light green linens I have in mind for the tablescape.
The International Nippon Collectors’ Club (INCC) says on its web site that my vase was manufactured in Japan between 1891 and 1911 by what we now know as Noritake China. The maple leaf backstamp in light green identifies the time period and since I got it from my mother-in-law, I’m pretty sure it’s the real thing.
Today I’ll be gathering up the other bits and pieces of Nippon porcelain I have in my cupboards and hopefully inspiration will strike. Please come back again on Thursday to see what I have done with this beautiful piece of the past.
I’m linking up today with Dawn’s History and Home Link party at We Call It Junkin’ and Marty’s Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life. Be sure to stop by and say hello!
What an exquisite piece, and it’s made even more special by its age and the fact that it is a family heirloom! I look forward to your tablescape!! Rosie @ The Magic Hutch
Thanks for visiting, Rosie. I had fun working with the colors in this piece when I did my tablescape today.
What a treasure to have something that old – and with no damage. It’s a beautiful piece. I’m looking forward to your table you design around it. 🙂
The piece has some wear on the gold here and there, but it is in pretty good shape. It’s been on a safe shelf in my house for years, so that may account for not much recent wear and tear. 🙂
That is what I call an Inspiration piece. That delicate colors on the vase are beautiful. I am looking forward to what you are going to do with this tablescape. I know what you mean about a fake table for the Fourth. I have been debating if I want to do a table this weekend or wait until we have our cookout. I do want to do a trial run but I don’t want to have to rewash the dishes, glassware, and flatware again before company comes (we have four cats). Of course I can set it, dismantle it, and then reset it next week – I think that sounds like to much work.
Thanks for commenting, Candy. This piece has led me down an interesting path today as I created the tablescape. I hope you will like what I’ve done!
I’m pretty sure we ALL wish we had a room like the one at the Biltmore for storing vases and creating fabulous fresh floral arrangements!!! We all need to stage a campaign for our husbands to grant that to us!!! 🙂
I remember seeing the flower room when I visited there, the basement was maybe my favorite part of the house! Thanks for sharing at H&H!