The Great wall of Blue and White China…

I’m not really sure if I collect plates or if they collect me.

In my travels I am always dipping into markets, brocantes and interesting shops where I find my eye is often attracted to interesting plates, particularly those in a blue and white scheme or a black and white scheme.

After accumulating a couple of stacks, I decided it was time to find a way to display them, and thought where would be a better place for an eclectic collection of plates, upon which we are supposed to eat, than in the pantry where we store our foods?

I don’t have a precise criteria for the plates that choose me, most of them are old, but some are new; some are fine porcelain, some simple stoneware, one of them is actually made of tin, can you guess which one?  Somehow, each one draws me in with its certain look, design and patina, collecting my attention and making me just love it for its certain unique charm.

I am sure this will be an ongoing effort, but here’s a look at my pantry wall today and a few tips on how you can create “a great wall of china” in your abode with ease.

This is the plate that started it all. I bought it at an estate sale because I loved the dainty hand painted vines and butterfly design on this delicate quilted porcelain. Over the years it has moved from here to there with me, been stowed in miscellaneous places and it even broke at one point, you can probably see the crack across the center. The good news is that I’ve figured out how to repair such breaks, which I’m going to share it in a future post. After all of our years together and the abuse this little beauty suffered, it felt good to finally hang it in a place of honor.

For the most part I used these expandable plate holders in white to hang the plates because they blend in with the wall color.

But for some of the smaller or shaplier “plates” like this ruffled little piece I picked up at the Cours Salaya Market in Nice, France

I bought these Invisible English Disk Holders to keep this itty~bitty beauty in place.

They offer multiple sizes. To activate the adhesive you soak it in water before pressing it upon the surface you want to hang and then let it dry over night.

Does anyone know what this shape might be called? I don’t, but I loved the unusual form, the sturdy stoneware and the colors.

Because of its irregular shape, it was a bit of a challenge to figure out how to  keep it straight on the wall, so I used 2 different sizes of the Invisible English Dish Holders to keep it positioned just right.

I picked up a great lot of plates at our splendid little auction house in Beaulieu~sur~Mer, Le Salle des Vente. I love the notion that these plates have been resting on some lovely old home in the South of France for decades, and now they are prominently displayed on my panty wall in Seattle… so I decided to leave them paired with their rustic, historic holders, a sign of their provenance.

This one is tres nouveau but I couldn’t resist buying it at a great little gift shop in Eze Village to bring home to Seattle to remind me of the high village above our Pied~de~Terre in Eze, France and the Chemin de Nietzsche we climb to get there.

Thanks for visiting my great wall of china with me.

What seems to collect you?