Make Way for the Old

Some stories are best told with pictures. The words can clutter the meaning.  

Seventeen years ago, my mother packed up her wedding china in a large box.

It sat in storage for fifteen years.  For the past two years, it was kept at my sister’s house.  Last weekend, the box was delivered to me.  As I unwrapped each precious 

dish and cup, I was intimately aware that my mother’s hands were the last to

touch each item. It felt, more than anything, that it was her loving care that I was unleashing.

I felt honored to solve the puzzle of how to incorporate her Noritake China set into my

household.  I felt uplifted to touch, assorted other collectibles, two 150-year old hand-painted plates from Germany, her Dresden plate and a little German vase exquisitely decorated with a gilt and floral design.

I will leave the rest to the images.

1.  Seventeen year old 40"x24" x24" carton.

2. Like an archaeological dig, packed in layers.

4. An extensive number of dishes assembled.

3.  Unwrapping requires patience and time.

5.Storage of 1952 Noritake takes some space.

5a.  Noritake Mark.

6.  Our family cake plate. Dresden china.

9. German vase, hand-painted.

8. German serving bowl, hand-painted.

10.  1850's hand-painted German plates.

An interesting note.  The influx of German china was as a result of my grandmother's stepmother.  My maternal family were Huguenots.   My grandmother's mother died in childbirth,  delivering my grandmother.  With a brood at home already, her father married their housekeeper, first for reasons of efficiency and second for reasons of the heart.  My grandmother's stepmother's Germanic roots influenced my grandmother and their lives together.