No Commitment China

Pavilion Paper

 

For the chicest picnics, al fresco dining, beach, boating, tailgating, parties, and more, I bring you disposable china! 

China Pattern Search

Mystery Alligator Plate

 

I came across this place setting image and loved the alligator plate and decided to try to find it. When I looked closely I realized the alligator has five legs - clearly AI created since they don't have five legs normally - LOL. Even though this is clearly computer generated, I went on a little search to see if there is anything like it out there.

Christmas @ CCC

CCC

 

My kitchen island at Christmas displays some of my collection of Juliska's Reindeer Games. I love this china - it comes in small plates, bowls, and cocktail napkins. I use it for serving dessert, hot chocolate, and Irish coffee or soup and nibbles.

The Thrill of the Hunt

Amanda Lindroth - Veranda 

A little while back I saw this photo in Veranda of a china pattern that stopped me in my tracks. It is Lenox British Colonial and is replete with pineapples, palm trees, bamboo, and sailing ships. I thought it would be so perfect for CCC - a wonderful combination of chinoiserie, coastal, and British Colonial. It is even dishwasher and microwave safe. But then I learned....

Faux Chinoiserie China

Tobacco Leaf Melamine Plate Set

 

Chic plates that won't break are perfect for so many al fresco dining occasions - the porch, lanai, patio, beach, pool, picnicking, tailgating, or for kids. 

Setting the Thanksgiving Table

OKA US

Here is some easy and beautiful inspiration for setting the Thanksgiving table.

Don't put away your Halloween pumpkin decor - it's perfect for the Thanksgiving table.

Setting the Spring Table - Famille Rose

Famille Rose Collection

 

The term "famille rose" (meaning of the “pink family”) refers to Chinese porcelain glazed with enamels in a predominantly pink, white, yellow, and green color palette. Perhaps you have some antique or vintage pieces in this classic chinoiserie style.

China Patterns

Alessandra Branca

Yesterday was spent taking three carloads of my china to the new house. I thoroughly cleaned the cabinets and organized all the china. I had already bought over silverware, candles, and pots and pans, so the kitchen is now almost set up. What a great feeling.

I love beautiful china. Interesting that my wedding china is a Chinoiserie pattern, Wedgwood Chinese Tigers. I still adore this pattern. I have service for 8.

Wedgwood Chinese Tigers

I also have a large set of Lenox Morning Blossom. When I was first married, I collected every piece known to man through a china club. Do you remember those?

Lenox Morning Blossom

I am super excited to start using all my fine china again. Using it with Golf Guy has been impossible. (Think 5 year old son with ADHD).

Fine china and silver seem to be such relics of days gone by. I even use cloth napkins at every dinner. Did you know that sales of paper napkins have been down dramatically in recent years? The reason is not the use of cloth napkins - many younger people use paper towels instead of purchasing paper napkins!

At any rate, I find it fascinating that both my china patterns acquired years ago are Chinoiserie patterns, so my love of Chinoiserie goes back to my twenties. I also bought an antique Chinese screen and started collecting antique ginger jars in my twenties. I literally just realized all this writing this post.

Do you use your "fancy" china on a regular basis? Any Chinoiserie patterns?

Setting the Chinoiserie Table

NYBG Orchid Dinner

I am a sucker for a beautifully set table that includes Chinoiserie. It is funny that when I got married I didn't even know the word Chinoiserie but both my china patterns were in fact Chinoiserie! This fabric is Brunschwig & Fils Samarkand edged with Greek key and of course I love the orchids and monkeys.

My china patterns -

Lenox Morning Blossom

Wedgwood Chinese Tigers

My Christmas Dinner Table

Kim Seybert Feather Placemat

I just ordered these fabulous feather placemats from Horchow for the holidays. I think they look like juju hats. I will pair them with my favorite china - my collection of Wedgwood Chinese Tigers. It was my wedding china pattern and I have tons of it and still love it.

Wedgwood Chinese Tigers

Saturday Inspiration

I Suwanee - Furbish

A darling combination of traditional Chinoiserie Tobacco Leaf Plates (these are tin and only $10.00) combined with very modern Kate Spade Cocktail Tidbit Plates. The leopard bowl is by Waylande Gregory.

Sunday Inspiration - Setting the Chinoiserie Table

Alessandra Branca/House Beautiful

 In this fun and chic table setting, Alessandra Branca mixes a blue and white striped tablecloth (fabric from her collection for Schumacher), with Chinoiserie china she has designed for Pickard. Her Fiamma and Pagoda china patterns combine Chinoiserie motifs with vibrant and colorful borders.

I love combining stripes and Chinoiserie and I love the color palette of blue, white, and pink. Small containers of flowers in lieu of one arrangement add to the casual vibe.

Alessandra Branca/House Beautiful

Setting the Blue and White Table

I have a weakness for china, but I have collected so much that it takes something really extraordinary to make me pull the plug. I have always loved Oscar de la Renta - in fact, my wedding dress was a couture ball gown of his in midnight blue silk organza over silk taffeta that I had made as a wedding gown in ivory. I also adore his collection of furniture for Century. His home furnishings line was conceived in tandem with Miles Redd who serves as his creative director.

His new Dot and Dash and Brushstroke dinnerware are on my Christmas wish list. I love them both. If you have white china, these would be fabulous to mix and match with it, picking up a set of the dinner plates, salad/dessert plates, or the cocktail plates, for example. I also like that this china would work equally well in a formal or casual table setting. There are interesting stories about both these designs. The "dot - and - dash" was taken from a 1970's silk dress designed by de la Renta. The brushstroke was his attempt at calligraphy while in Japan.

Scalamandre Chinoiserie China

This is too good to be true - Scalamandre china at $70 a four piece place setting. Adapted from the 18th-century artwork of Jean Baptiste Pillemont, a charming scene composed of oversized flowers, fretwork fences, pagodas and parasols decorates this fine dining collection from Scalamandre by Lenox.

The colors are wonderful - amethyst (purple), sienna (orange), teal (blue), and chocolate (brown). If you are not in the market for a new set of china, buy the dinner plates or accent plates by themselves to mix and match with your existing white china.

This china would be amazing in my own dining room. I think the purple is calling my name. Here is my dining room wallpaper. I love mixing orange and purple with Chinoiserie - so modern.

Check out what I found this week at my thrift store - a set of four brand new Dransfield and Ross Greek key place mats with their original $90 a piece price tags. I got them for $12 for the set of 4!!!

A Chinoiserie Christmas - Chinoiserie China

Sara Gilbane

Do you have a Chinoiserie china pattern in red or green? Now is the time to display it. My wedding china is Wedgwood Chinese Tigers in Green that is always perfect for the holidays.

Wedgwood Chinese Tigers

New Ideabook and New Series

From Joe Nye's Book Flair

With the upcoming holidays, many of us will be entertaining family and friends. My November Houzz Ideabook is all about setting the Chinoiserie table. Click on the Houzz link in my sidebar for my picks for Chinoiserie candles, salt and pepper shakers, napkins, place mats, napkin rings, vases, flowers, books on entertaining, place cards, place card holders, glassware, flatware, and china patterns. On Chinoiserie Chic, we will be doing a deeper dive into setting the table with Chinoiserie flair with some beautiful and inspiring table settings.

home, james!

Followers of Chinoiserie Chic know that I adore the home, james! Chinatown dinnerware pattern. They are offering my readers 30% off any item in the store (except their tole trays) from today through October 31st. Just go to www.homejameseasthampton.com and enter the Code CC10 at checkout. I am thrilled to be able to add a piece to my growing collection at a great price.

Wedgwood Dynasty

This pattern by Wedgwood called Wedgwood Dynasty is a new version of my wedding china Wedgwood Chinese Tigers with the addition of a Greek key border as opposed to a gold scalloped edge. If you are looking for a china pattern with great Chinoiserie pizazz, this is a fabulous choice. The chargers or salad plates would also be wonderful to mix and match with white china.

Chinoiserie Plates from iomoi

These custom melamine plates from iomoi could not be more chic. They can be customized with your choice of text and font. What a perfect hostess gift, wedding gift, or special treat for yourself. I am a huge fan of melamine plates for al fresco dining in the summer and these are absolutely fabulous.