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Collecting Culinary Antiques is a sentimental business. We all have warm kitchen memories, n’est-ce pas?
The kitchen is often our very favorite room in the house, and we love to cook, or at least heat up a delicious meal to share with those we love.
Whether they come from the “below stairs” kitchen of an elegant chateau or a quaint village bistro, our culinary antiques are the perfect complement to your grand pursuits of dining, cooking and entertaining.
All of the FrenchGardenHouse culinary antiques connect us to a time when we all allowed for leisurely food preparation, and dining was an event. Maybe that’s what we are looking for, many of my collector clients say filling their homes with the French Country kitchen pieces remind them to sit and enjoy lovingly prepared meals with their family and friends, treasuring their company.
Rustic French pottery invokes a French Country look like no other antiques do. Used for decades in a French cuisine, they are hand made objects, a work of art, really!
French pottery from the Provence, and Alsace region makes every kitchen speak French, fluently.
You can use these old treasures to brighten up your kitchen, but they look just as stunning amid a collection of antique books {cooking or not} or holding a handful of flowers or herbs from your garden as a centerpiece.
These rare to find hand painted wine bottles from the Provence region, painted so long ago by a local artist, are a work of art displayed all on their own.
Eye-catching, they connect the dots of our present to the past.
This pitcher, not perfect, which makes it have personality, and a little quirkiness, can still be used to serve water, your famous punch, or any other liquid libation at the table. At holiday time, an arrangement of autumn leaves, or pine branches make a French Country statement.
Using antiques in your home and kitchen creates a link from today to a culture when every item was created with care, by artisans who cared about each detail. A little brown enamelware pitcher, eye catching in its simplicity, adds charm anywhere, fill it with a small bouquet of flowers to make yourself happy!
Onion boards, made of porcelain, are amazingly rare to find, since they were used every day to cut one or two onions. Unlike the wooden boards, porcelain boards like this were used because they did not absorb the strong onion smell. They represent a time and lifestyle in the past that we long for. One that embraces time spent in warm kitchens, creating special foods to feed those we love, and it’s a time we all long for, as a “chef” and host or hostess.
Because of our renewed interest in cooking at home, and entertaining, culinary antiques are becoming the most sought after antiques we sell at the shop. I’m excited that there is a whole new group of younger collectors who love the 19th century cooking antiques! This small enamelware coffee pot is a great color, and in wonderful condition….
If I’m playing favorites, this would be it! How beautiful is this cherry red enamel tea pot? It’s in amazing condition, made with great skill and care. And then there is the hand painted enameled pink rose and muguet de bois….Lily of the Valley. le sigh. Obviously this one wasn’t used very often, because it is in such beautiful condition. You could still use this for tea, or just display it in all its glory as a piece of art.
If you collect antique kitchen or tableware, please don’t be afraid to use them! They are precious, but not sacred relics. They are meant to be enjoyed and shared.
You can see all the latest culinary antiques I just added to the shop from Europe HERE.
Hi Lidy,
I am now getting the posts in my email, but I am not getting the photos, just boxes telling me what photos should be there.
Diane, I emailed you. It may be because you haven’t cleared your “cache” or cookies since we moved to a different host. {le sigh, if only websites were as well behaved as my antiques!}
Clearing this and restarting your computer will hopefully fix that. Fingers crossed!
I love reading your blog because I always learn something! I am going to keep my eyes peeled for an onion board as I visit brocantes and vide-greniers. Husband is pretty good about explaining what things are, but lots of stuff he considers too banal to point out (like, doesn’t everybody know that?), not knowing other people would find it fascinating.
Thank you my French friend! I love this: “doesn’t everybody know that?” ha! Wishing you a happy weekend, jealous of the “vide-greniers. xo
BeautyFULL! I love all the old kitchenwares you’ve collected from France, Lidy. The porcelain boards are wonderful, as are the aged tureens. So much character!
Thank you Rita. I was so excited to find the tureens, although they were spendy, they were the best ones I’ve seen in awhile. Love their colors.
I want a porcelain onion board, I would probably never use it but I have never even heard of one before, but it does make perfect sense. How often I have eaten a slice of apple only to find it tastes of garlic! The kitchen is very much the heart of our home, in the winter it is always really warm and cosy with a roaring woodburning stove. It beckons everyone to linger a while there, and it makes me want to cook, because there is something terribly satisfying about preparing food for a large family every day. Of course, we must remember whilst loving things from the past, we have the best of both worlds, we can enjoy all the beauty of hand crafted vintage items, but we also have the luxury of dishwashers, electric appliances and modern ranges. Having said that we have just cooked another large batch of locally gathered chestnuts in the ancient chestnut pan on the open fire in the summer kitchen, back to basics! Have a lovely weekend xx
These are true beauties and works of art! Great finds….love those tureens!
I love spending time in my kitchen – and being surrounded by beautiful french finds. I love the items you featured in this post. LOVELY!
Best & Bisous,
Michelle from Simply Santa Barbara
Your beautiful post reminds me of watching an episode of ‘Call the Midwife’ where the ‘flavor’ of that bygone era makes me just want to curl up with a hot cup of cocoa in a beautiful china cup.
It seems there are more French kitchen collectibles than Italian. I consider it a rare to happen upon older kitchen items here in Umbria, but as we are newly arrived, I will persevere. Love the porcelain cutting boards. The smell of lingering onions can be off putting….
Lisa, how exciting to be newly arrived to Umbria! I hope you find some antique kitchen items, perhaps Italian cooks never, ever part with their cherished culinary helps? {I am honored that my post reminds you of the Call the Midwife feeling of a bygone era…one of my favorites!}
Lovely French culinary antiques Lidy! So interesting to see them…love the cutting boards and tureens! Beautiful..
Merci, Lisa, culinary antiques make every kitchen happy!
The pieces are so charming ?
Oh, I am in love with these culinary antiques! I’m featuring this post at this week’s Foodie Friday and Everything Else! Have a great weekend!
Thank you! I hope you have a beautiful Fall weekend, too!
Beautiful post!
Thanks so much!