The lovely old dishes we found in the basement.

When you buy an antique

home, you never know what you'll find.  You may find old newspaper lining the walls as insulation.  Something like this can help date the house if you're not sure of the age.  Perhaps you'll find the builders signature carved into a beam or a date of construction.  In the case of our old house, it is dishes.

Hidden amongst the dirt and grime left behind in our basement, these fabulous floral plates and compotes are stamped Haviland & Co Limoges.  After a light hand wash, the patterns emerged.  Never put your antique dishes in the dishwasher.

 All are seemingly hand-painted; the compotes are decorated with a fuchsia.

 This is the stamp on the compotes.

We found three compotes; one in terrific condition, one with a tiny chip and one with a large crack in it.

My guess is that these were not used regularly as very little of the paint is worn off.  There are eight plates that appear to be dessert plates.  Look closely at this plate and the following one.  You'll see the tiny differences in each paint application.

 Delightful!

 Fresh from the garden.

 This is my favorite.  The combination of the rose color and aqua is divine.

The mark on the plates is a bit different than the one on the compotes.  I will check with replacements.com in order to identify them.  The house is over 200 years old.  I like to imagine a ladies luncheon using these plates years ago!