vintage platters – In the Vintage Kitchen: Where History Comes To Eat

Happy November! Isn’t it exciting to think that Thanksgiving is just 20 days away? All summer long the shop has been filling up with vintage and antique platters in anticipation of the big turkey day soon to arrive.

An array of antique and vintage platters available in the shop. They range in age from the early 1900s to the 1970s.

Unlike some other pieces of dishware in the kitchen, a large platter is pretty much essential when it comes to dealing with big food for a big crowd. Big plates are one of those items you can’t really skimp on or try to improvise with something else. I know because I’ve tried. Back in the day when I lived in several tiny apartments in New York City with either no room for a big dish or no extra room in the budget to buy a big dish, I tried all sorts of creative ways to present a turkey.

There was the year of the giant wood board, when the roasting juices ran all over the table. There was the year of serving it in a speckled enameled roasting pan, which I hoped was going to look wonderfully homey but instead looked wonderfully woebegone. There was the year we hoisted the turkey up on an elevated cooling rack, only to have it slip and slide around each time we attempted to carve it. That next year, the turkey was carved in the kitchen and separated out onto several dinner sized plates according to white meat and dark meat, but that lacked all the festive pomp and circumstance of bringing a big bird to the table. Then I found an antique platter on a weekend getaway trip in South Carolina and everything got a whole lot easier. Every Thanksgiving turkey since has come to rest on this two hundred year old dish that originally came from England…

It is my most prized treasure in the kitchen. The cracks and the crazing and the beautiful staining carry so many stories. It has a lovely decorative backstamp and a deep rim which is perfect for holding not only the turkey, but also all the herbs and the onions and the citrus fruit that go with it for presentation. I don’t have to worry about the juice running all over anymore or the bird slipping and sliding as we carve it.

I love this platter so much it gets used for non-holiday meals too like tacos, cheese and crackers, charcuterie, etc. Everytime I use it I think about how I’m adding another layer, another meal, to its 200 years of meals. And that feels exciting. I like to think about what the Victorian Englanders would say about their platter being used as a serving dish for 21st century tacos. I like to think about all the Thanksgiving turkeys that have been presented here on this very platter over the course of two centuries. And I like to imagine the people who used this dish and how they carried it and where they lived. I love that it is not only a platter but it’s also a piece of history from other people’s past lives.

This summer I overheard a conversation between two women at an estate sale who were talking about tableware. One woman remarked on the fact that she had a different platter for every holiday. And that her collection, a mix of vintage pieces and contemporary pieces, acted as the anchor for her table decorating decisions every year. She went on to say how it made party planning easier because she knew what food looked good on which platter and what colors worked together and which didn’t. Her platters helped narrow down the choices of what to make and how to serve it.

Her friend responded by saying that she only owned three platters – all plain white and all in different sizes. She admitted that she used them but didn’t love them and certainly never thought of them as inspiration for her table decor.

The collector explained that it had taken over a decade to find just the right platters but now that her collection was complete and all the holidays were accounted for, she looked forward to celebrating each occasion, anticipating new memories while remembering old ones. The two friends went back and forth about holiday decorations, and other things not related, but the best part of this story comes when it circled back around to the platters and the collector who had one for each holiday. “Mine feel like old friends,” the collector said. “I look forward to seeing them every time I pull them from the cabinet.”

For four months that conversation has stuck in my head and I’ve thought of that woman, the collector, every time I’ve been out curating items for the shop. I think it is her, and all the like-minded dish lovers out that I have been shopping for all along. I love the fact that her platter collection is now a tradition and helps carry sentiment along with food and festivity.

I wanted to help bring that sense of nostalgia to your table too, in hopes that you would find a new friend and a new helper from history. One that would make your party planning and your table setting easier and more interesting at the same time. From now until November 9th, the kitchen shop is hosting a 20% off sale on all platters, antique and vintage. They run the gamut as far as styles and patterns from traditional to boho, plain to fancy, and small to large. A little something for everyone.

As with all the items in the kitchen shop, my greatest desire is to pair old pieces up with new people so that the stories of food and family and history can continue to thrive long into this century and many more beyond. Hope you find a platter that’s suited just for you!

To see a list of all the platters available in the shop click here or visit the serving pieces section here and hunt around yourself. All eligible pieces have already been marked down so you don’t need to worry about entering coupon codes or any additional sales info upon checkout.

Happy friend finding!

In the 1800s, there was an American family named the Havilands who owned a china shop in New York City. The family was made up of four brothers David, Edmond, Daniel, and Robert all of who participated in the dishware business in one way or another whether it was through trading, importing, exporting, or physical operation of the William Street storefront.

A 19th-century view of William Street where the Havilands worked. Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Collection.

Selling dishes in New York City in the 19th century was a competitive business. China merchants were located all around town, utilizing the bustling harbor to import dishes from faraway countries. The Haviland inventory came from England and France in the form of creamware…

that came off the Pearl Street docks just a few blocks from the Haviland’s shop. Constantly trying to improve their offerings and find lucrative ways to stay afloat while supplying the city with serving pieces, the Haviland’s also offered china repair services. Legend states that a broken teacup made of a beautiful white clay brought in by a customer, led one brother, David, to hunt down the source of this stunning bright, light material.

Portrait of David Haviland painted in 1848 by Fortin

The search for discovery led him all the way to Limoges, France where factories had been producing porcelain dishes made from local kaolin clay since the 1700s. Beholding the beauty of this delicate but strong material, the enterprising David picked up his wife and young son from America and moved to Limoges with plans of opening his own porcelain factory. From there, he would send all of its creations back to America for sale.

In France in the 1800s, pottery manufacturing and pottery design were two separate businesses. First, the pottery was made in a factory, then it was shipped to artisans who painted or applied decorative imagery to the blank pieces. David Haviland saw a faster, more efficient process. When he opened his china manufacturing plant in Limoges, he hired local artists to hand-paint colorful designs on his porcelain pieces in-factory, thus eliminating the extra steps of sending china blanks out to be finished.

David’s European business venture quickly set him apart from other local French potters. His faster production time allowed more shipments and greater volumes to be exported. Plus, his new oval-shaped dishes, the artistic renderings of realistic-looking hand-painted flowers, and the bright white glow of the porcelain material delighted American buyers. Quickly word spread and a prestigious reputation of fine china manufacturing followed. Havilland Limoges became the must-have item. Even U.S. presidents were smitten. An elegant, artistic brand bearing the Haviland name was established.

Back in France, David’s two sons Charles and Theodore grew up in the family business. Both went on to make life-long careers of the industry, each adding their own unique style, design aesthetic, and innovation to the Haviland brand. But even though the company enjoyed worldwide notoriety, staying at the top of their game was still a constant balancing act. The competition was fierce both inside the industry and inside the family.

Upon their dad’s death in 1879, Charles and Theodore couldn’t agree on similar ways to move the company forward so they broke it in two. Both brothers, now operating at the helm of their own separate companies, incorporated the family name and waged a war against each other for top spot in the market.

Charles’s pottery mark on the left, Theodore’s pottery mark on the right, circa 1880s/1890s. Marks courtesy of Kovels.

The stable of original in-house French artists that their dad, David, had gathered and that had turned the Haviland dishes into beautiful works of art became pawns between the two son’s companies. There was in-fighting and backstabbing. The brothers competed with each other on all levels from design to pricing. When a set of Theodore Haviland China went on sale, Charles would reduce a similar set of his own even more. If Charles offered a 15-piece set of china for a certain price, Theodore would offer a 25-piece set for the same price. And so it went back and forth between the two.

Charles Haviland china plate on the left,. Theodore Haviland cup and saucer on the right.

Charles had a son named Jean, who was born in France and like his dad grew up in the china business. But unlike Charles’s childhood, Jean didn’t grow up in the hard-work-pays-off environment experienced by his smart, industrious grandfather, David. Instead, Jean saw his dad, Charles, bear the exhausting burden of constantly competing in a business that relentlessly beat back. Brother warred against brother for ultimate superiority and control of the prestigious Haviland name.

Young Jean loved dishes just like his father and his grandfather but he didn’t see a place for himself amidst the family feuding. When Jean became of age, he moved to Germany, changed his name to John, and opened up his own pottery factory in Bavaria under the name Johann Haviland.

Jean’s desire was to produce simple, affordable serving pieces and dish sets for everyday American households as well as strong, sturdy constant-use sets for hotels and restaurants. Even though his dishes bared the Haviland name, their simple designs and more economical price point were seen as somehow inferior to the exquisite detail and artistic merit associated with David Haviland’s original dynasty. Jean stayed in business only a few years before his company was bought by another pottery company. From there, the Johann Haviland brand changed ownership again and again until it was finally discontinued in the 1970s.

Of the two warring brothers, Charles and Theodore, and the fate of their warring companies, ultimate success was achieved by Theodore whose family line continued the Haviland tradition of fine quality craftsmanship and exquisite design that still continues today…

Jean Haviland’s pieces under the Johann Haviland brand might be snubbed today by serious Haviland collectors, but they still hold up in both form and function. The simple elegance of this Johann Haviland platter is effortless in design and ability. It matches everything, accommodates a plentiful array of food, and contains the history of a man who dared to do things without the drama.

Perhaps there was a bitter taste in Jean’s mouth when he witnessed his family’s ultimate fight for prestige over passion. Even though Jean who became John and then traded under the name Johann, knew all the formulas for success in order to produce high-quality dishware he did not succumb to the mercilessly competitive nature of his father and uncle, which seems like a character trait that would have made his grandfather David proud. Jean might not have put his personal mark on the china industry for as long as other family members but he did manage to break away from the feudal family climate and follow his own more peaceful rhythm.

Find the smartly stylish Johann Haviland platter listed in the shop here. It looks outstanding with every other dish in the shop so if you are looking for a grouping of serving pieces then this is your easy-breezy match-all mate.