Hello, Pretty Things!

I recently picked up three pretty china plates at an antique store.  The plates are Haviland Limoges, and were issued in the 1970's as part a collection called Theatre des Saisons.

The designs are over one hundred years old and were held in archives until released by Haviland.

My favorite plate at the shop was "Automne", but I was easily convinced to buy all three!  The plates were deemed by the shopkeeper to be original and were beautifully packaged in their original boxes.

Automne features a pair of pheasants and a fading sunshine.  I love this quiet gentle design:

The plates are hand-painted.  My second favorite plate is "Ete" or Summer, featuring ducks and grasses at waterside, with a blazing summer sun:

The "Hiver" or Winter plate is also lovely and has an Asian feel.  It features cranes and freshly fallen snow:

I plan to hang these on the wall in my dining room and will post a photo once they're up.  I'd love to have the "Printemps" springtime plate.  Prices for these plates are all over the map on the internet, ranging from $14 for a knockoff to $88 each for the real thing.

What I love most about many Limoges plates I've seen are the dainty hand-painted designs and the delicate edges - they often feature scalloped edges, which I really adore.  They are just so pretty...there is no other word!

I hope you are enjoying your springtime.  I am so busy at work and seem to be very tired when I get home most evenings!  Together with trying to exercise, keeping up with my book club, and tackling various spring cleaning projects, it seems I've had little time to blog or read blogs.  I seem to have had no end of appointments and evening events these days.  

And when my plate is clear, my mind seems elsewhere these days...with dreams of gardening and yard work in my head.  I promise to come back soon once the novelty (and busyness) of springtime has worn off!