Black and white with cheerful touches of lemon yellow seemed just the ticket for a chilly January day.
I stumbled on this charming set of square luncheon plates on eBay when I was looking for additional pieces for my sparse collection of Maxcera’s Toile Bunny.
Barnyard Toile by artist Elisabeth Trostli for Andrea by Sadek does indeed have a bunny. But as a marketing effort, the confusing set of attributions in the name is less than compelling. “Andrea by Sadek” is bad enough as a company name. Adding the name of the artist and the name of the pattern itself to the mix makes my hair hurt.
Striving to make sense of it all sent me down an internet rabbit hole. You may remember Andrea by Sadek from the elusive Lily of the Valley plates, of which I managed to cadge three, several years ago (also on eBay),
Andrea by Sadek was founded as the Charles Sadek Import Company in 1936 by Norman W. Sadek and his father, Charles. Unfortunately, of Charles, I could discover very little, but I did find Norman’s obituary online:
Norman W. Sadek, 92, founder of Andrea by Sadek, passed away peacefully Saturday, November 13, 2010, at his home in Hartsdale, NY. An industry pioneer, he founded the company with his father in 1936 as the Charles Sadek Import Company. After 40 years as the sole overseas buyer, he taught his craft to son Jim and daughters Andrea and Lauren, today’s leaders of Andrea by Sadek.
Ok. I’m beginning to understand the players, at least in the Sadek family, though I’m puzzled about Andrea’s presence in the corporate moniker. What happened to Jim and Lauren?
Now let’s turn our attention to the artist, Elisabeth Trostli, whose beguiling drawings have been incorporated into this charming country dinnerware.
There is little to be found about Elisabeth. Still, according to Visit Sarasota’s website, she “creates fantastical photographic collages, in amazing detail, using her own original hand-rendered illustrations, antique papers, exquisite embellishments, photography and geometrical fractals. A native Brazilian, she received her artistic education at the Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in Illustration.” Ok, I’ll bite. What is a fractal, precisely? Another mystery! But wait… mathworld.wolfram.com says:
“A fractal is an object or quantity that displays self-similarity, in a somewhat technical sense, on all scales. The object need not exhibit exactly the same structure at all scales, but the same “type” of structures must appear on all scales.”
So now we know. Who says collecting tableware isn’t educational?
I can’t decide which of the plates are my favourite. Besides the bunny, who started this whole thing, we have the adorable pigs with the curious chick who seems to be saying, “Can you hurry it up? I’m hungry.”
The gleefully content expression on the lamb makes me long for spring.
And the basilisk glare of the hen is all too familiar to anyone who has raised chickens. “Get one step closer to my chicks and you’ll regret it.”
My collection of this pattern extends to the square luncheon plates, mugs, teapot and jug. Upon receiving the pieces, I realized that there were additional illustrations beyond the four on the plates. The jug sports a patient cow on one side
And a haughty rooster on the other.
The mugs hold a gaggle of geese…
and the friendly pig on his own.
The hen’s gimlet gaze also greets us from a mug.
Can anyone tell that as a child, I read and reread Charlotte’s Web by author E B White, illustrated by Garth Williams, until the binding came apart? In fact, the drawings on this tableware are reminiscent of those by Garth Williams. He also illustrated the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder, another series I read over and over.
But back to today’s table.
The dinner plates are by Pier 1; I’ve used them many times.
Most recently, with Halloween Dogs.
The rooster napkin rings fit right in with the barnyard crowd.
And the wheelbarrow open salts brought further farm flavour to the table (Pier 1).
The yellow juice glasses are Depression glass (1930-1933), in the Minuet Yellow by Fostoria pattern. The mellow yellow shade coordinated well with the napkins and grudgingly tolerated the more exuberant tones of the jugs and flowers.
The cake stand you see lurking in the background holds Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins. Breakfast, anyone?
One ore look at our sunny side up table.
Have a lovely week, all.
Ooooo. I’m coveting your rooster pitcher!!
Sunny inviting table, especially for winter. Love it.
Great luck. I just got one of those Texas-size muffin bakers. I could have lemon poppy seed giants for brunch. Thanks for all the inspiration, Helen!
Thanks so much! Isn’t the rooster majestic? He looks very pleased with himself. 🙂
The obit you found of Norman Sadek was in a town near us in Westchester county. Small world. My favorite plates were the adorable pigs and that sweet little lamb. The yellow napkins and flowers added a nice bright touch to the black and white. Nice job, once again
It is a small world! The artist is from New York, and her show was near Saratoga Springs, where we went to that Morgan event.
Hope you’re enjoying the sunshine and all is well on your travels.
Gorgeous, colorful, well-written and educational all at once. What a happy read!
Thanks, Linda. Sunshiney yellow for dull grey January. 🙂
Helen, this barnyard toile is so cute – even the name “Barnyard toile” is cute (minus the rest of the handle). How can you not smile at “barnyard toile”? Love them on the plaid plates and with the yellow napkins and flowers. And thank you for clearing up the mystery of fractals. Now how to use the word in a sentence as it relates to tablescaping so I can add it to my vocabulary… Hmmm. “The salad plates had a beautiful fractal-like pattern set on a background of midnight blue…” lol. Kidding aside, your table is lovely and the muffins look delicious! Re those Maxcera bunny plates… I have been trying on and off for years to find some dinner plates to match my salad plates. I saw some at Replacements a couple of years ago for $25.99. Yikes. Good luck with the hunt and I hope everything is well with you! Take care!
I never quite know where these tables will take me, and by extension, all you wonderful readers. Whodda thunk we’d be chatting about fractals? I love your “use it in a sentence”.
As to the Maxcera bunny plates, you might try saving a search on eBay and see what pops up. They’ll send you an email when something new gets listed. I saw a big set of it on eBay the other day, but it was more than I needed (or wanted to store). Try “Maxcera Bunny Toile”.
All is well here, and I hope the same is true for you.
Dear Helen,
What a breath of fresh (spring?) air…and I’m not normally a fan of the yell0w/orange spectrum on the table. Clear yellow with black and white is very crisp and refreshing. How curious that Trostli turns up in my old home, at a gallery I’ve frequented many times. But I’m having trouble rectifying her charming, observant (the gimlet hen eye; the delighted lamb!), and simple drawings (Birds Toile, Barnyard Toile, and even wildlife) with her graphic works. Seems schizophrenic in style, although I like both.
I also love Garth Williams, but IMHO his best work is the Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies, which transported me to places I still remember 60+ years later. Just a single illustration an take me back… Thank you…
You took the words out of my mouth, Beatrice! That’s exactly what impressed me about Trostli—simple, elegant drawings juxtaposed with complex, multi-layered, almost space-aged art. Such a contrast.
I just looked for the Golden Books Treasury of Elves and Fairies and it’s utterly charming. Our youngest granddaughter is still at the stage where she would enjoy it, so I’ll add it to the collection. Thanks for the tip!
Just this last weekend my friend happened to stop at the local Goodwill store where she found all four canisters in different spots throughout the store and for different prices. She bought them Knowing I love roosters!
It’s such a lovely, fresh pattern, isn’t it? Congrats on your score!