Elegant Victorian Table Sets
 |
| Northwood's Leaf Medallion/Regent in amethyst |
The Victorian Era was a time of elegance and opulence for
those who could afford it. The mistress of a prosperous home exhibited her
family’s wealth and position though the items she chose to use. This was especially
important for entertaining which was a significant part of Victorian life. Even
family meals required elaborate table setting which always included a four
piece table set consisting of a creamer, butter, sugar and spooner.
 |
| Admiral aka Flora by Beaumont |
The more
wealthy families had table sets of cut glass or sterling silver and the upper
middle class for the most part used EAPG, Early American Pattern Glass,
sometimes referred to as imitation cut glass, for these sets.
EAPG table sets, along with many other pieces, were produced
in an amazing array of patterns and colors by a number of glass companies. Each
of these companies seemed intent on outdoing their competition in terms of the
beauty and elegance of their glassware.
 |
Left to right - Gillinder's Classic pattern, Northwood's Klondyke in Canary Opalescent,
Northwood's Argonaut Shell/Nautilus in custard
| |
 |
Riverside's Empress in green
|
Used at every meal, table sets consisted of a covered sugar
bowl, creamer, covered butter and a spooner. Although the names of most of these items are
familiar there are some interesting differences between the items we use today
and their Victorian counterparts.
 |
| Madora - Arrowhead in Oval |
Let’s start with the covered sugar bowl. Looking at the
photograph of the Madora set on the right, one might think that the double handled piece
the without the lid was the sugar, but it’s the large covered piece that served
this purpose. Why is that? Well it’s not
because Victorians used a lot of sugar as it was a very expensive luxury item.
The need for a large container stems from the way sugar was processed. One
couldn’t just stroll down to the corner grocery store and pick up a 5 lb bag of
granulated sugar. Instead sugar came in rock hard conical loafs of 3 or 4
pounds which had to be broken into smaller pieces with a mallet, then cut with
sugar-nips into smaller chunks which could be served in the sugar bowl. Quite a
lot of work to sweeten your tea!
 |
| Photo by Chris Cope |
Creamers were also larger holding about 4 more ounces than
the ones we use today. I suspect that
part of the reason was the number of people normally gathered around the table along with the abundance of cream available. And yes, they actually used their
creamers for real cream!
Shown on the left
is a William and Mary footed creamer in Primrose Pearline made by Davidson. RD #43701 circa 1903.
 |
| Photo by Chris Cope |
Butter dishes from that era were normally round dishes with
domed covers. The mistress would either
have a lump of home churned butter shaped into a ball by hand or with butter
spades, or a block of butter purchased from a farmer or merchant. Frequently
these were reshaped using a butter mold or press to create a more esthetically
pleasing product.
On the right is a #101 Rubina Verde Polka Dot
Cheese and Cover (more commonly known as a covered butter dish) made by
Hobbs Brochunier & Co. circa 1884.
 |
| Photo by Chris Cope |
Now on to the least familiar item – the spooner. Spooners were placed on the table at every
meal along with the other pieces and held, as you may have guessed, spoons.
Instead of laying out a spoon at every place, the spoons would be placed in the
spooner for those who wished to use them.
There have been a couple of explanations
offered for this practice. It’s possible that some households did not have
sufficient spoons to place one at each setting. The other explanation is that
the spooner enabled one to display the number of beautiful spoons one had
acquired regardless of how many people were at the table. It was also
considered to be a sign of hospitality to have spoons at the ready.
Shown here is a
Daisy and Button with Crossbar AKA Mikado spooner in canary made by Richards and Hartley circa 1891.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about these highly
collectible pieces from the past. They make a beautiful display and who knows,
they may inspire you to set an elegant Victorian table at your next dinner
party.
 |
| Riverside's Victoria in ruby stained |
Want to learn more about Early American Pattern Glass? Visit
http://patternglass.com/ where you can take a class at the Pattern Glass School, visit the bookstore and stroll through the virtual Museum.
 |
| Greentown Cactus in chocolate |
 |
| Northwood's Royal Ivy - Rubina |
Many thanks to the "glassies" who generously shared their photos and knowledge!
All photos and text belong to the copyright owner and may not be used without prior written permission.
Linking to, and sharing of, this blog is welcomed and encouraged.
.JPG)
.JPG)
