Timeless Tableware

Some of life’s most meaningful moments occur around a table. While the food, beverages, and conversation are at the core, how all are served contributes to the magic. Think of the sterling silver platter that grandma served Easter ham on. The white scalloped-edge plates your mom plated dinner on nightly. The crystal goblets clinked for celebrations. 

Somewhere between art and science, how you set a table matters when entertaining. 

A basic table setting includes a dinner plate, fork to the left with a napkin beneath, knife and spoon to the right, and water glass positioned above the knife. For formal occasions, chargers, soup bowls, salad plates, bread plates, wine glasses, coffee cups, salad forks, butter knives, dessert cutlery, and more might be necessary. The size of your family and how often you host will clarify and quantify your needs, including large-scale serving items like platters, trays, and cake dishes. 

Tableware is an investment and important to select with intention. Many lean toward neutral colors and silhouettes for everyday use and more intricate styles for festive occasions. No matter your style, shopping vintage for tableware will ensure you find items that are as special as your gatherings around the table. 

Two Thomasville antique and home store owners provide insights on how to curate a time-tested table. 

Kevin Fuchs, owner of Toscoga Thomasville

Q: What are some styles that make for timeless tableware?

A: For timeless appeal on the table, crystal, fine china, and sterling remain vital components. The relatively recent trend away from these traditional classics, particularly among young couples, is waning. Fads come and go, but the classics hold their own time after time. 

Q: Why does quality tableware make for a good investment?

A: The investment aspect of tableware, as for anything, relies on its continuing appeal, the quality and unique nature of vintage and antique pieces (including silverplate), and the fact that items such as sterling silver carry their value not only superficially, but in the materials from which they are made. This is why our mothers and grandmothers have sterling everything. 

Q: What are some key pieces you suggest for setting a table?

A: Platters and trays in silver or silverplate, soup tureens for food or for decoration are always appealing, cut-glass bowls for every dish offered, a complete and matching china service, and sterling flatware and serving pieces.

Amy Hart, designer and owner of  The Hare & The Hart

Q: What are some styles that make for timeless tableware?

A: I love English and French styles for tableware. Many of them have stood the test of time and are handed down from generation to generation.

Q: Why does quality tableware make for a good investment?

A: Quality tableware in a versatile style can take you from casual to formal for many different occasions, from relaxed dinners with friends to more traditional times like Christmas dinner. It just depends on how you style the table around it.

Q: What are some key pieces you suggest for setting a table?  

A: To begin a collection, you should start with the basics: a dinner plate, soup bowl, and a dessert plate. You can go from there, adding teacups, a butter dish, and other serving pieces throughout the years.