The Great Arcopal Haul of 2013!

Well, this post has certainly proved itself a struggle to write, hasn't it? I've had so much trouble with Blogger, first refusing to upload my pictures and then decided that it didn't want to save my draft, but finally, here it is! The Great Arcopal Haul of 2013!

Those of you who follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter will have seen my sneak peeks of today's haul, or perhaps just heard my whispers. Indeed, I got very excited last week when I headed out to a couple of op shops in my hometown and was met with the glorious sight of milk glass!

For those of you with no clue what Arcopal is (and here I must admit that a little over a week ago, I would have been one of you) I give you the following. Those of you who do know what Arcopal is, feel free to skip this next couple of paragraphs. I won't blame you :)

Arcopal France is one of the first brand names that had been launched by ARC International and has now been discontinued. The company is famous for other glass and dinnerware brands worldwide like the moderately priced Luminarc, the exclusive Cris d’Arques and prestigious Mikasa. Here is a little picture of the brands which ARC International represent today, off their website.

The Arcopal France dinnerware is a white opal, break proof, tempered glass which has a fire glazed finish. This material is 100% non-porous and is fully tempered to resist thermal pressure and breakage. The Arcopal France dinnerware is five times stronger than china. It is fully tempered break and chip resistant glass. The glass can resist thermal shock as well as impact and is completely microwave-safe, dishwasher safe and break and chip resistant. 

So basically, from what I can gather, Arcopal's milk glass is just the French version of Pyrex. Is is collectible? Well, yes, if you look on Etsy, apparently so. Is it pretty? See for yourself! I have somehow managed to pick up 6 different patterns, with one in three different colourways in the one trip to the op shop! All together, 59 pieces! Plus one piece of actual Pyrex, which I've lobbed onto the end of this post :)

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find names for the patterns which I have come into contact with, however I do know that some Arcopal patterns do have special titles. If any of you know the names of any of the patterns I have down below, please do let me know!

The patterns above and below are, on close inspection, actually different. There are 7 of those pretty bread-and-butter plates altogether, but curiously, only one bowl. I have no idea where the tea cup's saucers are!

These little daffodil tea cups are just so delightfully 70's! I love them! Again, they are missing saucers though!

This next pattern is again, delightfully 70's! Nothing says 70's, really, quite like the combination of brown, orange and floral!

The "Country Scene" pattern, as it is mostly referred to on the internet, is my favourite! I can just imagine a little girl sipping tea out of this cup at Grandma's, delighted that she was allowed to take part in such an adult activity, and feeling ever so grown-up!

And now we come to the pattern I have collected the most of, in three colour ways. Of the brown colour way, I have two tea cups, five bread-and-butter plates, two dinner plates, and seven bowls. Of the blue, I have three tea cups and saucers, and two bread-and-butter plates. Of the gold, I have just the one, lonely tea cup. I quite like the simplicity of this pattern.

Last but not least, I give you the Pyrex, which I have also been unable to identify the pattern of. It is marked PYREX (TM) Ovenware on the bottom, and again, any help identifying it would be greatly appreciated!

Well, there you have it! An Arcopal haul of epic proportions. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it all! Some will go straight into my cupboards, of course, even if I do feel guilty replacing brand new crockery with stuff thats about 40 years old! The rest, I'm not sure what I will do with. I mean, I hardly need 23 milk glass tea cups in my already overcrowded cupboard full of china! I just couldn't bear to leave any of this lovely milk glass behind! When I saw it, it unleashed a greedy, vintage-loving monster!

Pyrex and Arcopal spread over my floor while I decide what to do with it. 

Thank you mum!

Remember how I told you all in my last Friday's Finds post about my mum giving me a whole heap of antique serving ware that she didn't want anymore? Well I finally unpacked it all and got a few photos! I am yet to find somewhere to actually put it all, but I couldn't hold off any longer - I just had to get it all out and share it with you guys. 

Pretty good score, huh?

I'm still pinching myself that she actually gave me all of this! This is the majority of the good china that I wasn't allowed to touch as a kid. Unbelievable! I feel so lucky to have grown up with parents who love antiques and nurture my own developing passion for them. I almost thought dad would pull the pin on me taking all of this, but he surprised me by not saying anything. Maybe the fact that they are moving soon is starting to sink in, and he is realising there is no way he wants to pack and unpack all this stuff which sits unused in cupboards all year long? 

Here are a few of my favourite things that mum gave me:

Alfred Meakin "Gloria" and Grindley 

These plates are super pretty. These photos don't do them justice! I love the blue and orange of the one on the left, and it fits right in with the decor that Jake and I have in our lounge/dining right now, and the one on the right just steals my heart every time I look at it! I don't know why, but I love it. Probably because I know mum loves it haha.

Delft candle holder

I'm obsessed with blue and white right now for decor because its pretty, but not so feminine that Jake doesn't like it. There are some classic patterns in blue and white and I love Delft's blue and white wares almost as much as I love Blue Willow.

Royal Staffordshire serving plate and New Hall Hanley cake plates.

This serving plate is probably my most coveted and cherished item that mum gave me. She always used to pull it out to put biscuits or cakes on when we had visitors, but for some reason stopped doing that a few years ago. I have childhood memories attached to this serving plate, and think it's beautiful. I also love these little cake plates - so simple and pretty. I think they will see a fair bit of use in my household.

Royal Doulton saucers. 

These saucers were given to my mum by my dad, and kickstarted her massive collection of Doulton plates about 25 years ago. They are incredibly special to me, even though one has a massive crack through it, and they will be displayed in my bedroom on my chest of drawers.

Lord Nelson Ware bowl and Bell China saucer

I love the garden scenes on these pieces of china. They would be absolutely perfect in a little girl's room! I used to call the Bell plate "the Mary, Mary plate' when I was little because the scene on it reminds me of the nursery rhyme "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" which mum used to sing to me when I was little.

Price Bros. Cottage Ware

I used to think these were doll's houses when I was little, but there was no way mum would ever let me near enough to touch, let alone play with them! Mum loved them, so I love them. I can't wait til I have a coffee table or something to put them on!

Elizabethan "Chantilly", Royal Doulton "English Rose" and Pontesa cake plates

These plates are just super pretty and that's all there is to it.

Schumann Germany trinket bowl thingy

I'm not exactly sure what this is supposed to be for, but I love it! It's super classy.

Old Chelsea Trio

By now, you should all know about my utter obsession with tea and tea cups, so it shouldn't surprise you that this trio sets my heart a'flutter! So delicate and purple and pretty!

"Gloria" by Royal Stafford cup and saucer

Infinity pretties.

Old Foley Tennis Set

Oh my gosh, this is possibly going to be my favourite cup to drink out of this winter. Whoever invented tennis sets is a genius - a saucer and a plate for my cookies all in one? Yes please! Plus, it's super pretty!

H & K Tunstall serving bowls, Alfred Meakin plate and Empire Ware salad bowl

These pieces of serving ware absolutely delight me with how they look so "matchy-matchy" on the table. Plus, the serving bowls were my grandad's, which makes them extra special, because I don't have much which reminds me of him. 

So, there you have it, my whopping new collection of antique serving ware, including a breakdown of my favourites and evidence that I'm not very good at culling down when it comes to favourite antiques! Now I just need to make some friends on the Gold Coast who might want to come around for tea :)

Friday's Finds

I spent this week staying at mum and dad's place to get my back fixed, and while I was there I took a trip to Lismore with my good friend Alisha and her mum to hit up the op shops and have a little catch up. I must say, I am impressed with this haul, and equally impressed with the whopping $17 total that these items (including the double bedspread which I used as a backdrop) came to.

The floral mugs are bone china and were only 50c each, as were the Noritake tea cups. Anyone who knows me will know I am a total tea snob - very particular about the tea I drink, the way it's made and what it's served in. I won't drink tea out of anything that isn't bone china and these mugs are the perfect, pretty way to consume large amounts of tea in the winter months (which I am starting to sorely anticipate). The bed spread is currently covering my ugly lounge, until I either find a chenille spread for it, or get a new one. It brightens the room up nicely, having cream on the lounge. I love it. 

The divided dish was a practical find which will get tonnes of use, and the other dish is marked "Fire King" and I absolutely love it! Not sure if it will stay in the kitchen or find it's way as storage in the sewing room yet, but the pattern in beautiful. I realised today that none of my "pyrex" is actually pyrex, but I totally don't care because they're so pretty and practical. 

While I was at my parents' place, mum cleaned out her cupboards and gave me a tonne of antique serving ware and other tidbits that she doesn't want anymore. I swear it was better than Christmas, and I'll post a bit about it when it's all unpacked, because it's just so awesome! So many beautiful things which were totally off-limits when I was a little girl are finally mine, and I'm so excited to have visitors over and pull it all out. She even gave me two small Doulton plates, which is a big deal for mum, because she collects it and my dad bought her these plates when they lived in Toowoomba, which basically kick-started her collection. I feel so lucky to have grown up in a house which was filled with antiques, because it has really fostered my love for it all. I think it can go either way when you grow up in a house like ours - you either love and embrace it, or hate and shun it. I'm so glad that I fell in love with it, and I attribute my passion for history to this antique-filled upbringing. I always loved hearing the stories behind the things mum and dad found and collected, and I think that was my first real exposure to "history". 

Have you had any recent thrifty finds that blew your mind? Or perhaps some exciting hand-me-downs, like I received from mum?