Recently I went to a local antiques store to pick up a couple of butter knives and ran into THIS.
A drop dead gorgeous set of Frenchy china with 22 carat gold trim. Marked down to $250.00. If this isn’t a perfect example of the crime of throwing out Grandma’s china, then I’m giving up my membership in China Addicts Anonymous.
Can’t you just see this gracing your table? It’s stunning!
I started to look into the provenance of the set and what it might actually be worth. The antique store calls it French Colonial by Taylor Smith & Taylor. Apparently the decals were used by more than one china manufacturer and the series is called Courting Couple.
It turns out that the pattern is TST444 and was probably manufactured in the mid-1900s in the United States.
Can’t you just see this beautiful china sitting on your table? It needs a loving home — just not mine. Obviously, Music Man would not take kindly to me dragging home another set of somebody’s Grandma’s china; I’ve already inherited and appropriated five sets of my own beautiful dishes from relatives and estate sales.
I have absolutely nothing to do with the antique store, but I just think someone should adopt these courting couples. Is Collage Antiques of Arlington Heights calling your name?
I’m linked up today to Let’s Dish at Cuisine Kathleen and Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. Be sure to stop by and visit the talented ladies sharing their creative genius.
The Seasoned Dish 
What a great set…I have no room for more dishes, I have no room for more dishes!
Repeat after you… no more room for more dishes. I think this set would push husband over the edge. 🙂
ooh, If I lived there, I would find it very very hard to resist. I love the courting couples… so cute for Valentine’s or anniversary… Thanks so much for sharing..
Maybe I should just buy a set of the salad plates — but I hate to break up the set just in case someone falls in love with it. It’s just so French despite its American roots. 🙂
Unreal! Beautiful set and price. If she would ship I would buy, but shipping costs are probably crazy to Canada. I never got any of my Mom’s china, my sisters in ON just donated it as I live on the west coast. I just paid $750.00 for a set in BC to replace my Mom’s missing set. I still have a ferry ride to the mainland and back and an overnight trip to pick it up. Thankfully the seller took less than her asking price so I can pay for the trip out of the money she took off for the china. Hope to take a girlfriend with me and make it a fun trip. Lucky the person who scores this set at such an affordable price. If it was here in Canada for sale they would want $1,000 and that would be the buy and sell, not a store price. I am sorry I do not have access to this set. Patty/BC
Ooh — giving away your mom’s dishes — bad move by your sisters. I feel your pain about shipping costs; I just sent five pieces of family furniture from Chicago to California which cost me a tidy sum. Still, I want my kids to have the family heirlooms if they want them.
Seriously….if it wouldn’t be an arm & a leg for shipping, I’m sure I’d consider it very deeply. Man, that’s pretty!!! Some people don’t even bother to explore the worth of stuff left in their parents’ or grandparents’ homes. They are just tired and want to unload it ASAP. That’s really too bad. It could be someone else’s GREAT fortune, though!!! Wish it was to be MY fortune!!! I would do my level best to set a table that would make Marie Antoinette wanna give me a high five!
Alycia, we are definitely sisters from another mother. It reads Marie Antoinette to me, too. And I want it. Bad.
I’ve reached my max at 14 sets of dishes but this set is certainly beautiful.
I just find it hard to believe that someone from the family didn’t want these stunning dishes. It’s my mission in life to reinvent young people’s love of inherited china. And I love your blog name. 🙂
Oh, I know it hurt your heart to think of these poor, abandoned dishes going unloved! You get Big Points for walking away! I hope someone will give them a good home soon.
I find it a lot easier to walk away from dishes than I do from linens. Somehow I can easier justify all the times I will use linens — and how much easier they are to store.
Hi,
My Mom had a similar set for her good china when I was a kid and I loved setting the table with it. Hers didn’t have the gold band but it is just as pretty by Taylor Smith. I saw a box of the same china at auction so I got nostalgic and bought it. Ir is displayed in one of my china cabinets.
I’m glad to hear that at least your set of dishes found a good home with you. I’m going to check back on this set…
I am with all the others. It is beautifiul set of dishes and I want it! BUT where to put it!!!!!!!!??????? I stopped counting sets of dishes! Almost too depressing to know the number. When is it a collection and when is it an obsession???????
It’s an obsession when you get to the point that you don’t actually USE the dishes. I’m having 25 for dinner on Monday night (book club) and every single person will get a china plate, a real napkin, and a real fork. That’s why God invented dishwashers and washing machines. 🙂
My grandmother had these in her attic and gave then to my Mom when she needed an everyday set. We had the broken set on our table back in the 70’s. My Dad (now 84) remembers these dishes where handed for free when you bought a movie ticket during the Depression! It kept people coming back so they could get the complete set – and of course if you brought the entire family to the movies you got several pieces at a time. These were not considered fine China but – Oh! How lovely they are in today’s world.
Reblogged this on Saturday Socks and commented:
My grandmother had these in her attic and gave then to my Mom when she needed an everyday set. We had the broken set on our table back in the 70’s. My Dad (now 84) remembers these dishes where handed for free when you bought a movie ticket during the Depression! It kept people coming back so they could get the complete set – and of course if you brought the entire family to the movies you got several pieces at a time. These were not considered fine China but – Oh! How lovely they are in today’s world.
That china is gorgeous, and I’m in love! I don’t know where the shop is located, but you mentioned shipping something from Chicago. Are you in the Chicago area? We’re taking a trip this summer to Detroit, so we could “stop by” (wink) and pick them up. I wonder if Handsome Husband would let me have an early Mother’s Day purchase…
We live in the northwest suburbs — the land beyond O’Hare. The address and phone number of the antique store is here (http://collageantiques.blogspot.com/), if you want to check with them before you take a trip. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Thank you for the information about the store, the reblog, and all the visitors you sent my way! When I was a little girl, we lived in Lombarde and then Villa Park. We took our teenagers for a visit last year on Spring Break, and they loved it. Fun Son says he wants to move there when he graduates from college. It’s a wonderful city! Many fond memories of the burbs, too. 🙂 Happy Sunday!
It is a lovely set! I saw a beautiful set yesterday in the thrift shop here in SOuthampton, NY for 85.00 I think I will go back and take a pic! I was tempted, but I have enough!
Don’t forget the St. Patrick’s Day Blog Crawl on Mar. 13th at Cuisine Kathleen’s!
Thanks for linking to Let’s Dish!
I just discovered your blog as I was searching for a price for my set of “courting couples!”. I’m a dishaholic!
I totally love these “Courting Couple” dishes, I have a partial set, and I am looking for more to complete my set. Did this beautiful set find a great home ? TY-Shirley