It was easy to see that this garage sale was a family affair the minute I arrived. It was late in the morning after the rush and several of the “shop keepers”, probably bored at this point, were inspecting the bottom of the china. “This one is from Germany.” “And these were from Japan”.
I found this teapot, set of dessert plates and teacups scattered across the long table. The prettiest teapot on the table had a broken lid handle…so I had to leave it there. (sad face) Arthur had most of these pieces in storage for some time even after his mother Cely had passed away./wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Honor-Ware-Dirty-Dishes-Cely.jpg "Honor-Ware--Dirty-Dishes-Cely")
He shared with me that Cely loved her china. She moved from the Philippines to Europe, and from there she was lucky to be able to travel short distances to add to her collection. She was also quite the world traveler- Egypt being one of her many stops.
Landing in California, Cely bought a huge wall unit, you know, the big monsters that everyone wanted in the eighties. In this wall unit she proudly displayed all her pretty dishes. Arthur shared with me that once during an earthquake, while everyone was scrambling to take cover, Cely was asking for the family’s help to hold up the wall unit! Save the dishes! I told Arthur that I understood his mother as I might have done the same thing.
I am happy to have some of Cely’s pretty things available for pretty occasions and I am happy to honor her memory each time they go out.
