Fine china

Posted on by garbagefinds

One of my best china hauls since that big collection of teacups several years ago came from this pile in an affluent neighbourhood near Olympic Stadium.

This box was stuffed full of it. I got the feeling that these had been packed away for years, other than the green glasses which I’d guess were added before the trip to the curb.

Here’s what was in the box, minus three glasses and a few bits that broke along the way. The biggest set, which features teacups, demitasses, and two handled consomme bowls were made in Limoges by someone with the initials RH (the stamp looks similar to the one on this set).

As for the other teacups, the three on the left seem to be fancy enough to be eBayable. The well-gilded one on the left was made by Royal Chelsea, and the pair in the middle were made by Hammersley. The other two are nice as well, I forget who made the one at far left, but I think the dainty cup next to it was also made in Limoges.

These green sculptural glasses were perhaps my best get. I did some research and found out they were Cambridge (Ohio) glass, and likely made in the 30s or 40s. It seems that they sell easily for 80$ a piece, and likely more if you’re patient. I have ten, all of which survived in excellent condition.

In the bags I found a few pieces of “aluminite,” which were also made in Limoges and quite vintage. I’d never seen this before, and it’s probably worth selling as a lot at the auction.

I also found a bag full of nice clothes, most of which looked to be from the 70s (look at those patterns!). They all looked barely used, some still had price tags on them. A couple were by a designer whose work seems reasonably desirable, but I can’t remember his name right now.

All this stuff smelled lightly of cigarette smoke. Thankfully, it wasn’t overpowering as it sometimes is, though I might have taken that pink armchair if it didn’t have that smell. I haven’t had luck here since, but I’m not giving up on this spot quite yet.

I’ve had a hard time getting those first words of a post down these days. Once I get those done, the rest seem to follow alright, but I’ve had a hard time focusing / have been too distracted. Pandemic brain perhaps? Regardless, I’ve had pretty good luck lately, and have lots of pictures to share. I’m probably going to write shorter posts for a bit to keep things flowing a bit more smoothly.

Also, I plan on doing a yard sale this Saturday starting around noon at 4096 Coloniale (near Duluth). Hand sanitizer is available, masks are recommended. The area around my garage has become a construction nightmare and I’ll be lucky if I have a sale there again this year.

21 thoughts on “Fine china”

  3. Wow, what an impressive haul Martin! Love the glasses, very art deco looking. Do they glow under a blacklight? I can understand the pandemic brain syndrome…same here..hard to really concentrate on anything. Don’t worry about posting often..when you do it’s a treat. Stay safe and good luck with your garage sale.

  4. Pandemic brain or not, you’re doing great! It is hard to concentrate on other things today; virus news and concerns are taking up a lot of mental space. Congrats on the excellent finds and thanks for the report.

  5. Really enjoy all of your posts and photos. What a beautiful find/save. Please keep your blog going! Can’t tell you how much fun they are to view

  6. I agree with all of the above. Your work is inspiring on so many levels. Wonderful to see all the beauty you retrieved from the curb!!

  8. I’m glad you found this and rescued it from landfill (I wish I could be so lucky!). I wonder what happened to the rest of the set…

  10. If it weren’t for you, there’d only be the horrible crash and tinkle of all those lovely vintage breakables being thrown into the garbage truck. Good on you for rescuing them, Martin.
    Hope you have another successful sale on Saturday. I wish I could be there to poke around, and even help you out for a spell.

  11. What fantastic finds! Love the sculptural glasses. I can’t wait to hear how those sell for you. So glad you saved all of this from the landfill. We all have pandemic brain these days so don’t feel bad!

  12. The glasses are beautiful. I used to collect Cambridge and these are from the statuesque line. They are champagne glasses in emerald (but you probably already knew that). Great find!

  13. Totally agree that those glasses are spectacular. Please let us know how you do with them! Please, please, please keep the posts coming, even if they’re mainly photos! Best of luck at the yard sale. Do you have Euro coins? If yes, I may try to stop by, depending on the hours?

  14. Is Limoges china valuable? I’ve come across references to it in books based in Britain (I’m a fan of mid century British literature). It is referred to as valuable but maybe that’s only the stuff made in a certain era. I hope it turns out to be valuable!

    1. Limoges is a city in France. It’s a well known producer of china, but some companies are better known than others. I think Limoges is also stamped on fake pieces to make them seem more valuable.

  15. I agree with all this. I love your posts and pictures and know they take a lot of effort to put together. We appreciate it! And you’ve inspired me to start selling things I find on the curb here in southern California.

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