Botanical prints fill my heart with song, particularly when they are exquisitely rendered and occupy a set of mixed salad plates. By Spode no less!
Woodland Harvest by Spode for Williams Sonoma is a relatively recent pattern, produced between 2006 and 2008. The set comprised 9″ salad plates (given the generous size, you could even make the case that they are luncheon plates), soup bowls, a couple of platters and a square serving bowl. And that’s all she wrote!
I found these while browsing Replacements one day and was captivated. Replacements didn’t have any at the time, but I was lucky enough to find one set of four plates on eBay. I’ve since tracked down two more sets of four, with three more plates from sister set, English Floral, thrown in for good measure.
The plates have a harvest theme, with a light touch. They’re a modern rendition of traditional botanical watercolour illustrations, which originally, were scientifically accurate drawings of plants used for catalogues before the age of the camera.
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- Blackberries and Chestnuts
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- Red Currants and Acorns
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- Blueberries and Hazelnuts
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- Black Currants and Walnuts
The plates have lots of white space, leaving the colours of the illustrations to appear in stark relief.
When styling the table, I kept the extra bits to a minimum with a central two-tiered stand of fruits, nuts and leaves, green depression-like glass, jacquard linens and wooden handled cutlery,
Oh – and a pewter squirrel salt & pepper from Vagabond House. Couldn’t resist him!
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- Pears, nuts and leaves
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- Grapes and green base filler
The galvanized two-tier stand is from Pier 1 last season, and since discontinued. The faux pears are from Pier 1 (they still have green but the gold are no longer available); the nuts are real from Nuts.com; the leaves are from Save-on-Crafts. The grapes are real, courtesy of Stop’n’Shop. 🙂
The gold Acorn Harvest Jacquard napkins are from Williams Sonoma this season and the Sawyer flatware is from World Market. The wooden chargers are from Amazon.
Here he is again. You can almost hear him saying “What have you got for me? Can I have some of those nuts on the table?”
The glasses are iced tea and water goblets in Cameo Green by Fostoria. While they feature some of the design elements of Depression glass (needle etching on fairly fine glass), they’re actually quite modern – from the 1970s, and available from Replacements.
Botanicals have a long history in adorning tableware, and for good reason – they’re timeless. These particular plates have a clean aesthetic that is very pleasing to the eye. And they’re dishwasher safe, too. A bonus!
I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch.
Dishwasher safe?!! Sign me up! Beautiful dishes presented in such a lovely setting! I’m particularly fond of the 2-tier stand. I’m a big! Big fan of tiered stands. The possibilities for dressing them are endless and they can be used for so much. The combination of fruits, nuts and seasonal leaves is just gorgeous! Have a lovely weekend!
The 2-tiered stand has proved very useful for exactly the reason you mention: it’s endlessly versatile. I really like this one because it’s a fairly small size, and the ribbed edge is turned up slightly, which prevents the contents from sliding off into a mess. Thanks so much for visiting, Alycia! Enjoy your weekend, too.
Very appealing table. I like that there is no tablecloth. The glass top of the table suits as a backdrop for the dishes and the chargers. The dishes are lovely. I have been finding dishes with fruits and vegetables lately. It seems to be my newest obsession.
Fruits & vegetables, hmmmm? I’m currently stalking any and all things with a game bird/animal theme. We do get our fixations, don’t we? Hehe!
The glass topped table is a new addition this year to our Cape house. It occupies a small deck that used to hold a hot tub, which thankfully gave its last gasp and was removed. We got the table from Home Depot, and I wish it were a 48″ rather than a 42″, as that gives a bit more room for table accoutrements. The smaller size forces me to be selective in what I put on the table, however, which gives a more uncluttered appearance. The smokiness of the glass is another bonus. Thanks for stopping by, Lorri!
What pretty plates! These slipped by me. I’ve never seen them before. They make a gentle autumn statement. From where are your chargers? They have a nice finish. As always, your understated table is elegant and very nicely done.
Hi Yolie. Thanks for the heads’ up on the chargers. I’ve updated the post with the information. They’re from Amazon, and come in set of six. I got two sets. For wood chargers, they were a reasonable price. I debated getting the woodslice type with the “live edge”, but they were a lot heavier and a bit more rustic, so I went with the Acacia wood instead. Susan, over at Between Naps on the Porch commented recently that a 13″ charger is the perfect size, and she is absolutely correct. She recently added the woodslice type to her collection and they look great! Still debating… Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
Beautiful plates but particularly liked the pewter squirrel. Been watching these little guys feverishly scurrying around our front garden collecting acorns on our oak tree for their winter hibernation. Really cute!
I know it’s not fashionable to love squirrels, but I do. Glad to know you like them, too. They are so darned cute. 🙂
This is a primer for understated elegance! Composition and mix of items is perfect. You have persistence (and a bit of luck!) finding plates that call to you. My efforts seem to be all about luck these days!
Hi Sandra,
My persistence is aided with a nifty little “find this for me” feature on eBay. You can save searches and they will send you an email when anything in that pattern/size (whatever you specify) comes up. Replacements has a similar feature. It sure helps! Thanks for stopping by.
What a pretty table! I really like those salad plates, and this is a time when having white dinner plates comes in very handy. Everything looks lovely, thank you for sharing this table.
Thanks, Joy! White dinner plates are such a staple, aren’t they? Endlessly versatile. I’m so glad you enjoyed the table, and hope to “see” you again.