Michelle Watson’s china set has been in her family for generations.
The story of this china set begins on a farm in southern Indiana in the late 1800s.
Lena Midkiff, a woman in her 20s and recently married, always wanted her own set of fine china, but money was tight. So Lena would faithfully save the dollars she made from selling eggs at the farm and put them in a tin in her pantry.
Every few months he commissioned a single piece of O & EG Royal Austria porcelain – hand-painted in gold with elegant flowers weaving a border around the almost translucent plates.
It took Lena Midkiff more than a decade to collect the complete set of O & EG Royal Austria porcelain. (Submitted)
Lena loved these plates, although it would take over a decade to collect the complete set. Now, more than 100 years and three generations later, Lena’s china set is in storage in the basement of Watson, Lena’s great-great-niece.
“My mother always used it for special occasions like Easter and Christmas and that sort of thing, but it’s quite fragile and I hardly ever take it out,” says Watson.
For many, old china sets are now gathering dust.
It’s a change that’s being felt around the world, from a Winnipeg home to one of the oldest porcelain manufacturers in the world.
While these elegant dinner sets may have lost some of the popularity they once enjoyed, just one look can conjure fond memories of dinners at grandma and grandpa’s house, lazy Sunday afternoons, or special occasions with loved ones around the table.
“They don’t seem to want to continue the deliveries anymore”#
Lena’s china set is one of two sets that Watson inherited – the other being a much-worn and much-loved set that her grandmother bought her in the 1920s for her wedding.
“I remember we used that china every Sunday for dinner, because every Sunday for dinner we went to my grandparents’ house,” she said, thinking of afternoons spent playing yard games on her grandfather’s farm and swimming in the creek.
Watson says all those memories revolve around family gatherings around a table carefully set with the fine china.
“It was so much fun – so much fun and so many great memories.”
Deb Rowinski lives just outside of Warren, Man. She also inherited her grandmother’s china set.
“I remember whenever he ate dinner, those were the dishes he actually took out,” she said. “It was just for special occasions.”
Deb Rowinski has fond memories of spending time around the dinner table with her grandmother’s china set. (Submitted)
Despite the memories, both Watson and Rowinski are selling their china sets. It’s a tough decision to part with them, but the props take up space, and Watson says her kids have shown little interest in inheriting them.
“Kids just aren’t into the stuff anymore. You know, they’re more than happy to go buy … white plates,” she said. “They don’t seem to want to continue the deliveries anymore, which is fine, it’s a bit sad.”
Theirs are just a few of the countless sets of fine china now being sold on Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace across Canada as many people go through the same struggle – what do you do with something that was once valuable but is now taking up space?
Since its creation in China during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century, porcelain has been prized. The highest quality porcelain was reserved for emperors and upper elites. They were enjoyed by countries around the world who were enthralled by the beautiful white, almost translucent ceramic and set about reproducing it.
Art historian Helen Delacretaz, the former chief curator of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, says her exquisite porcelain was a sign of social class.
“They look at china and they see these beautiful things, and they are. They’re luxurious, and that was the point. It was an idea of luxury in your home,” he said.
“If you were rich, your house was full of fine china. If you were more middle class, you had decoration on your sideboard… a very nice piece – you might not be able to afford the whole set, but there was a love there that spoke to the fact that you had the ability to afford it and you had the knowledge that it was good”.
Delacretaz recently sold her grandmother’s tea set that she brought with her to Canada from England.
“I envisioned having tea with my kids and all that, but life got in the way and it never seemed time to unpack it or I was afraid it would break, so it stayed in the box.”
Any tour of an antique shop or thrift store will reveal stacks of vintage china dinnerware – Royal Albert’s Old Country Roses or Silver Birch, Coalport’s My Fair Lady, Pope Gosser’s American Ivy – the list goes on.
A stack of china plates at Mike’s General Store in Winnipeg. (Source: Danton Unger/ CTV News Winnipeg)
Antique appraiser Mike Huen, owner of Mike’s General Store in Winnipeg, says that as more and more people try to sell their old china dinner sets, the value has plummeted. He says that 40 years ago, a single china cup and saucer might sell for $100 in a week – now the same set would be a tough sell at $20.
“It’s a supply and demand factor – the supply is high because this generation is passing and the demand is low because there aren’t as many people looking for it anymore,” he said.
“We’ve changed as a society and I mean there’s still a percentage of people who still enjoy this style of eating. The only thing is that percentage of people is shrinking every year.”
Mike Huen has run Mike’s General Store in Winnipeg for over 40 years. (source: Danton Unger/ CTV News Winnipeg)
It’s a change felt by one of the oldest porcelain manufacturers in the world, Meissen. The history of the world-famous porcelain brand dates back to 1708, when an alchemist in the employ of Augustus the Strong cracked the recipe for fine white porcelain in Europe.
The Meissen company still makes high-quality porcelain, but in 300 years a lot has changed, and the company had to change with it.
“You know the days when we would get together on a Sunday afternoon with the grandpa and the grandkids and everybody in a big family — it doesn’t happen as much today as it did 50 years ago or 30 years ago,” said Dr. Tillmann Blaschke. The company’s CEO told CTV News in an interview from Meissen, Germany.
“What we’re seeing is a trend towards a greater preference for white porcelain over hand-painted multi-coloured porcelain – you have to deal with that in your designs, even though we’re hand-painted.”
He says customers are looking for functionality over decor – something durable that can go in the microwave or dishwasher. It’s a change Meissen has to adapt to.
“When it comes to product development, you have to make sure you have products that fit the times we live in, that meet people’s needs,” Blaschke said.
“You’re always tempted when you have a long history to look back because there’s always more to look back on, but we have to constantly keep our focus on what’s in front of us and thrive on what we have as history in our hands. make us even better as we go.”
Although the age of porcelain is changing – it is not over. As Hannah Nowack says, “China is definitely having a moment.”
The New York-based editor-in-chief at global wedding site The Knot told CTV News that fine china is still a big hit at wedding registries these days, and the pandemic may be a contributing factor.
“We’ve actually seen about 16 percent of couples these days put fine china on their wedding registries — that’s a pretty significant increase,” Nowack told CTV News.
“As we slowly come out of the pandemic and couples are looking forward to getting back out there after about two years alone, they’re just excited to have fun and having the materials to do just that is an important thing.”
But the porcelain revival isn’t just happening in wedding registries. Others find creative ways to breathe new life into beloved ensembles.
At Park Line Coffee in Winnipeg’s South Osborne neighborhood, owner Janis Urniezius has been using china since she opened the shop five years ago.
“We had a box of it at home and we had to use it – it was just sitting in a box there,” he said. “So we grabbed a few pieces and they’re perfect for the grilling we have.”
Janis Urniezius, owner of Park Line Coffee in Winnipeg, says the porcelain plates are a big hit with customers. (Source: Danton Unger/CTV News Winnipeg)
She says the china is a big hit with customers – many of whom have asked to donate their own sets to her shop.
“It’s really hard to throw it away and it’s sad to see it happen as well,” Urniezius said. “It’s nice to try to give it a second life.”
Stacey Shortt, the owner of ShorttCake Events Décor in Winnipeg, also found ways to give new life to forgotten china. He hunts through shops collecting old china sets and rents them out for events.
“Vintage china itself has a soft and romantic feel,” she said.
“There are all these great pieces that are kind of unused. So I think the generation that was used to using these pieces more in their everyday lives is happy to pass them on and see them really appreciated.”
He said streaming shows such as Downton Abbey, Bridgerton or The Crown are also having an impact on china rentals, with more people looking to host themed parties using vintage dinner sets.
Stacey Shortt, the owner of ShorttCake…
