Tin Picnic Plates

Over the weekend, Kitchenography and I went to a neighbourhood yard sale, where in the past I have had major scores, including this barristers bookcase, and a stack of handmade quilts from the 1920's. After I had scored a toile French market flower pail and the most incredible bunch of lilacs, I spotted several tin picnic plates. A number of years ago, I got some of these great plates that are far and above your usual styrofoam plates - they're copies of Sèvres plates, but they're tin! They're so lightweight and good-looking, that they're a joy to take along on a picnic. And even better, they're "green". You just wash them and use them again and again. I liked the four that I had, that they were one of the things that I kept when I moved. When I turned them over, I realized that they were from the Wallace Collection in London, just like the ones that I had at home. I snapped up the three of them instantly, and when I got home, I checked the patterns. My original ones were the Garland of Roses pattern and the new one was Flower Basket. The two other plates came from the collections at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, home to the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. These plates are also adaptations from Sèvres plates, but in different patterns. Mottahedeh carries these plates in several styles and they run about $45 to $65 for four plates. Regardless of where you get the plates, they're all made by Elite Gift Boxes in the UK, suppliers to stately homes... amongst others. It looks like Elite Gift Boxes will be doing a line for Nina Campbell in the fall. Stay tuned!