It’s impossible to be serious about this tablescape; pure fun leaps from every plate.
I discovered the pattern a few years ago through an email from Replacements featuring a number of different animal patterns, from very expensive to very reasonable. It was my introduction to Sakura, and I was astonished at how inexpensive the plates are: $9.99 for four salad plates.
Four different animals peek out from behind a vivid green background on the Jungle salad plate. We have a giraffe, which is not technically a jungle animal, but I guess we’re covered with the dinner plate called Serengeti (that one is harder to track down).
Then another non-jungle Jungle animal, the zebra.
A quite magnificent tiger.
And lastly, a rather cuddly looking leopard. I looked up the difference between a cheetah and a leopard, as they look very similar. The cheetah has an extra black stripe running around the snout, from the eye to the opening of the jaw, so this guy is definitely a leopard.
At first, I was going to go with a bunch of large-leafed green plant material down the centre of the table, with some brightly coloured flowers added in, similar to those on the salad plates.
But then I found these rattan and wood shaving balls at Homegoods. They did the trick nicely.
So off we went on safari.
I hunted down some coordinating salt & pepper shakers and bagged a pair of zebra…
Followed by some very friendly giraffes. There is a small magnet that holds the set together. Adorable.
The flatware is Twig from World Market.
To pick up the greens in the plates, I used vintage Colonial Dame green iced tea glasses by Fostoria.
And some lanterns from Pier 1 a couple of years ago.
I can’t wait to use these plates when the granddaughters visit. What a hoot that will be.
A real safari is on our list of trips-to-come. A definitely must!
In the meantime, I will continue to watch Out of Africa every year to get my safari fix; that movie never gets old. The scenery is spellbinding, and I adore her house with the wide veranda. As an added inducement, I recently discovered that Berkley Cole is played by Michael Kitchen, the imperturbable Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle from Foyle’s War. If you haven’t seen that series, you’re in for a treat. Created by Anthony Horowitz after Inspector Morse wound up, it’s an 8 part series set in Hastings during the Second World War. It’s fabulous.
Back to one last look at the table.
Have a lovely day, everyone!
I’m sharing this post with Between Naps on the Porch.
SO cute! Those dinner plates are perfect (both in color and in pattern) to set off the cute Sakura plates. You are right, this table is FUN.
I think the Serengeti plates might be useful for other travel-themed tables, too. They’re an interesting shape – oval! Glad you liked the table, Joy!
Helen, If you liked OOA, please read West with the Night…Beryl was the lady that Redford was supposed to fly off with the day he died, but she declined. It’s one of my cherished books, ever since it was published. It’s a ripping tale, and so well written!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_with_the_Night
Beatrice, you are the source of fabulous books! Thank you. I’ve just bought it on Kindle and can’t wait to get into it. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I am convinced you will love it. She was an accomplished, brave, unconventional woman who commanded her own world. Had her pilot friend not warned her, she would have gone with Denys Finch Hatton (one of her many lovers–at such a repressive time!) and would have died. Instead she chose to risk her life flying solo over the Atlantic in the direction of fierce oncoming wind. The book is so beautifully written that once I take it up, I’m hard pressed to put it down.
Sounds like a perfect beach read. I can’t wait to get into it. Thank you again!
OOOOOOOOOOOOO Dear! Way tooooooo cute. I’m in trouble now. I gotta have me some of those plates.
Have at it, Sandy! They’re a steal, I think. Enjoy!
I forwarded this to my UK friend and said Fab plates. And, she can’t keep up with your enthusiasm. They are really way out there and so different than your other plates. Such fun. I think the green glassware compliments them and blends in quite well with your green grass in the background, quite striking. Well done. BTW I baked your tea cake. No mace so substituted with nutmeg and it is delicious. More of a rich pound cake and it’s lovely with our afternoon tea. Company on their way until Friday. Busy busy!
PS we saw all these animals on safari in Kenya!!
I’m hoping to see all those animals on safari, too! I don’t know if you caught the YouTube video that Susan at Between Naps on the Porch referenced – The Elephants That Came To Dinner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdTII_unZSA It’s about a small herd of elephants that return to the Mfuwe lodge each year and march right through reception to get to the mango trees in the back garden. It’s amazing!
Glad you liked the tea cake; it is a lot like a pound cake and nutmeg would be a great substitute for mace (I bet I couldn’t tell the difference; one uses so little).
See you soon. Enjoy your company.
Helen, love the animal plates, but I lust after those Colonial Dame green goblets. Replacements has the 7″ hand blown glass salad plates for $39.99 each.
Surely, there is a therapy group for the bat guano crazy collectors. LOL
Is your collection insured by a rider on your homeowner’s insurance ?
Lovely as usual.
Myrna, you might try Ebay for the glasses. They have a great search function and will alert you when items become available.
When you find the group, please let me know :).
And yes, we do have a great big fat rider on insurance. Price of doing business!
In thinking further about this, Myrna, I remembered that it was insurance that started the whole blog idea rolling. I had to do an inventory of the antique & vintage pieces we own, so began photographing them and compiling a spreadsheet. Somewhere along the line, I learned about online scrapbooks, so the project turned creative. I chose backgrounds, arranged different combinations in vignettes and added the quantities in footnotes to the pages, had it printed and gave a copy to the insurance company. That sparked a greater interest in photography and I went from snapping vignettes to photographing table settings of actual dinner parties; it didn’t occur to me at that time to set a table that wasn’t going to be used! And then I met Mary, who designed the website for my “real business”; she’s got a background in floral design and is enormously creative. Entertablement was born shortly thereafter! Though I mostly set and shoot more casual tables these days with inexpensive eBay finds, it was the need to insure the more valuable antique pieces that started it all. Funny to think of it, isn’t it?
Well, that is what sets you apart from the other tablescape bloggers…those gorgeous pieces that don’t come from the usual Pier 1, WS, Pottery Barn, etc., that we all see and get tired of. I try not to buy too many “themed” pieces because they are just too memorable. That’s fine if it is your serious hobby or business, but not practical for us mere mortals with small cabinets! However, I am determined to get my hands on those amethyst American Lady footed glasses!
I’ll keep my eye out for the amethyst American Lady glasses, Beatrice and alert you to any available. I’d love you to have some so I can drool over your table. 🙂
You are missing an opportunity. Why not sell the book ?
Are you updating it every year for insurance purposes ?
So many people with vast collections never think about inventory or insuring.
Funny you should mention that Myrna; my business partner, Gordon, is nudging me in the direction of a book.
Alas, Picaboo changed the software format shortly after I had the original inventory-scrapbook completed, which necessitated starting all over again. I was more than a little ticked, but that’s the price you pay for free online software. The technology has come leaps and bounds since those days and there are many more options. I’m thinking about doing some kind of book. So many ideas! So little time!
I’ve been tracking the inventory with spreadsheets and Evernote, which is incredibly versatile but not quite as pretty.
Dear Ms. Kain,
Oh yes please! A book, a book, a book! I’ll buy 2, one for the coffee table, and one for the bedside table, so I can fall asleep drooling and fantasizing about the beautiful tables of Entertablement. Even a laptop is difficult to manage in bed and there is something so satisfying about turning the thick pages of a well photographed book.
On my list, Elizabeth! Thank you for the encouragement. I appreciate it so much.