Welcome back! How was your summer? While I am sad summer break is over, I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. Fall is the season to catch up, reconnect, and make new friends. If you are in the DC area, please visit us at the shop!
Over the summer, I attended a few antiques shows – always fun and interesting! I already have quite a number of antique pottery pieces, and was lucky to find new additions to my collection of leaf dishes. The leaf form dish is very popular, and can be found in all categories of ceramics – from creamware to ironstone to majolica. They were originally made for serving hors d’oeuvres, olives, relishes, sauces, sweet meat, and bon-bons. However, I enjoy finding new ways to use these naturalistic pieces. Let me show you my collection.
Do you remember these creamware leaf plates I featured last year? They are actually from a set of 10. Yes! 10 fabulous leaf dishes in perfect condition 🙂
The little ones make great dipping dishes. That’s olive oil with a sprig of rosemary – so good!
All together now! Just for fun, I gathered everyone in the dining room. The “real” foliage is scented geraniums.
Over Labor Day weekend I picked up this little Majolica leaf dish. The colors are so lively and beautiful against the Robin’s Egg Blue of the Swedish secretary at our shop. Can you picture the dish holding paper clips, thumb tacks, etc?
Also at our shop is this Ca. 1860s white ironstone relish dish in the form of an acanthus leaf. The lipped-top tea table and bergere are both Swedish.
And that’s my foliage display. I love this time of year, and can’t wait for the real show of fall foliage.
Bye for now!
Loi
Loi, I love your leaf dishes and the new uses you found for them. You have reminded me that I have a couple put away somewhere. I must find them.
I now am on a quest to find some fabulous leaf dishes-love this charming collection
What a beautiful collection, Loi. And there is nothing better than using the things you love everyday. It elevates our daily experiences, don't you think?
xoxo
(I need spell check!)
Yes, I love using our antique / vintage pieces. An ironstone bowl for cereal and milk….so much better 🙂
They're so beautiful and versatile! And I love the Swedish secretary? It's gorg!!!!
Oops that wasn't supposed to be a question. I love the Swedish secretary!!!
Dear Loi,
Only YOU could come up with such an imaginative array of fall foliage, staying true to your style, in an autumnal display of ironstone, porcelain and ceramic! Your pretty collection on the dining room table is inspiration for getting into the feel of fall! Thanks for this creative presentation of seasonal flare!
Happy weekend,
xo
Poppy
What a beautiful collection Loi. I think the little leaf families look right at home in your beautiful abode. I love the soap dish and I am dying to smell those Santa Novella soaps and potpourris everyone is talking about!!!!
xo Terri
So gorgeous…I love your Swedish secretary and all your new pieces are perfect…
Your "leaf" collection is striking. Great ideas for different ways to enjoy them! Lucky to have that beautiful 10 piece set!! That's great! I enjoyed seeing the various items in your shop. Oh I wish I was near DC…I would visit and I would visit OFTEN!
Gorgeous Robins Egg Blue Swedish secretary! Your leaf dishes are so pretty Loi and I like the trio on your bedside table. Your decor is so simple and elegant.. I love it! The rosemary and olive oil, the bread, and the white tray.. beautiful! Have a great weekend Loi! xxL
I really enjoyed seeing the many various ways that you have used your imagination with these pretty leaf dishes Loi – I particularly like the grouping you have done at the end with the scented geranium leaves – inspirational. I have only one leaf dish which is actually handmade. Looking at it I imagine that it has been made by pressing the clay onto an actual leaf and then gently folding the clay up to form a dish.
Simply divine darling!
Now I have to go and look for some leaf dishes 🙂
Di
xxx
Beautiful collection, Loi. Love your home.
Blessings and hugs,
Vesna
Ι have a similar collection of these leaf dishes, a poorer one but I do love these adorable little items everywhere in the house.You have a sublime and elegant house in its less detail Loi,and I'm glad to find you again in blogland.
Sending you my best thoughts for a creative new season and a good start into it!
Olympia
Well Loi, I finished my first week of back to school. I was exhausted just from the new position I have and all the learning I have to do to get myself straight and ready for an open house for the middle school on Thursday night, and then to get myself ready to plunge my senior high class into French poetry analysis and grammar…LOVIN' IT! But this is what I live for right here…the connection with other artists who have an eye for the sublime, no matter what the medium.
Your choice of objets d'art, furniture, designing vignettes and living the good life is what makes me smile on a lazy, Saturday morning. Your gray marble counter tops, the dishes, the soap….EVERYTHING (that fabulous DESK! AH!) are inspiring…so inspiring that I going to again rearrange my living room to make it even more sublime. I was reading on My French Country Home yesterday about how well the French handle home design and how they know how to practice self-control when it comes to decorating. One can immediately see how well you make your selections, to not over power a scene with just one piece – everything flows together so smoothly and evokes peace. Now that olive oil and bread…I'll take that too!
Big hugs dear Loi, Anita
I love your collection. I have a set of English leaf dishes that are part of a tea set that belonged to my great great-grandmother. I think they are perfect used as you have shown.
These are beautiful, Loi. They bring a little bit of the outside in and in an unexpected way.
I'm also in love with the little portrait. I was hoping it was in your shop.
Dear Loi,
You find the most fabulous pieces both large and small, as shown here.
Many people would overlook these precious leaf gems. I love them all especially the acanthus leaf!
Have a great weekend!
Xoxo
Karena
2013 Artist Series
I love them, especially the ivory colored ones. I really like with things from nature or representing nature. Organic shapes and textures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing your collection.
Claudia
loi you could inspire a massive run on vintage leaf dishes with the beauty of what you just shared! thoroughly enjoyed viewing your collection and seeing additional bits of your home and shop. what an enviable homemaker you are, ahhhh to be so organized and talented.
wishing you a lovely weekend my friend!
debra
Tis the season…I just put all my leaf dishs out…Lenox, pottery, etc. Luv that oval tub!!! franki
Your leaf dishes are beautiful and wonderfully utilitarian Loi, and how lucky to find 10 matching plates in perfect condition! Enjoy this gorgeous weather we're having!
xo Kat
This is a perfect post about the upcoming changing and falling leaves of the Fall season. Your leaf porcelain dishes are so beautiful. They blend in very well into your elegant home. The only thing missing in your collection is the Maple Leaf from up North. Have a wonderful weekend!
Honestly, Loi, my heart skipped a beat- your collections, your home, your shop- all so, so beautiful and elegant. Love!
It's fall and all is right with the world. Some of us (definitely me) just wake up in the fall with it's change in weather, colour, texture and those leaves….spot on Loi and fabulous. My passion is fabrics and William Morris' Acanthus leaf fabric is one of my faves. Used it for upholstery in my Advanced ID class…still feel the warmth and texture and your blog just brought me right back there…warms my heart…thanks for the wonderful trip/break as always.
Hey Mr Man! Thank you for sharing your wonderful leaf dish collections, not only do you possess a wonderful eye for detail but you are full of such brilliant ideas and you are so very inspiring.
I love the pair of cute bedside leaf dishes that you used for pocket change.
I am not keen on most birdbaths and I have been on the lookout for years, yes years for the perfect leaf dishes that I can use as birdbaths for the little wrens and sparrows that visit the garden. Your post has reminded me step up the search again.
Bon weekend old chap!
Dearest Loi! How happy I am to see you! And no my dear, no detention for being on leave! teehhehehee…but if my students DON'T study their grammar, watch out!
I am having a blast teaching French grammar to high school kids bound for college, and goofy 8th graders. It is a joy to teach what I LOVE…I taught in French all subjects like math (gag….) and other elementary school subjects. But now, it's time to finally teach what gives me the most skip in my step. Thank you for coming by dear friend, and you know, your "spirit" is constantly with me in my home. After I see your posts and as I putter about the cottage, I am always seeing how I can get more of that subtle gray into my home. Thank you for the inspiration, thank you for being YOU.
HUGS! Anita
beautiful! oddly enough just today I dug out 6 Meissen butter pats I have that are glazed white little leafs. I spread them out on my dining room table for decoration to celebrate the end of summer!
the acanthus swedish one! what a knockout that one is. i love this theme which is like a common thread throughout your home inside and out. A NEW LEAF makes such good copy i kind of want to smack you and force you to fork it over to you writer friend. also love how your jazz hands placed the cashmere throw over the headboard. another stroke of brilliance. i am going to keep my eyes open for little leaves today.
gotta run to band practice!
michele
my favorite part of this post was the leaves on the table with the fresh leaves/branches, too- so happy, fresh, natural, and pretty!
It's good to have you back again. Loi. I have missed communicating with you. I love everything I see on your blog – and always get new ideas for decorating my new house.
Lots of hugs and good wishes,
Liliana
That's a great collection, Loi! I keep my keys in a leafy bowl in my living room, but mine is more like a cabbage leaf.
Hi Loi,
I remember the lovely white leaf dishes with the bleached pine cones from last Christmas. So simple and so pretty. The smear glaze leaf makes such a pretty soap dish. The use for the olive oil and sliced baguette is so pretty and made me hungry. 😀 Like one of your other readers, this post makes me want to keep my eyes open for a few leaves of my own.
Now, if the weather here would begin to cool I'd be so happy.
xo,
Karen
Love your leaf dish collection and that you actually use them. I have one that was my grandmother's that I primarily use for staging. You reminded me to go to my staging stash and use it in my house. Have a grand fall! What did you pay for these little beauties?
Linda, the price usually depends on the condition, form and rarity. When buying for my shop, I am more particular and will pay a premium. For the house, I'm not as picky. The little dish in my bathroom was $45, and it has rim chips.
So beautiful Loi and what really struck me, was the elegant (could it possibly be anything else?) way in which you staged them. I love all of your collections and your bedroom went straight to pinterest. (many of the others are too! Oh, and I just have to have a piece of that delicious bread with rosemary infused olive oil. That's my favorite color and it makes me nuts every time I see it! xo (PS: your idea worked! thank you!)
Loi thèse dainty dishes are so utilitarian! I am looking forward to your fall decor….will you be decorating with white pumpkins again?
Most likely, I think 🙂
Your photography is sublime…that is not a word I use often or ever. I have a cream leaf dish in my office that I am sure is not valuable but I love it's aesthetic.
Happy weekend.
Hi Loi, well, You have woven together a beautiful fall post…leaf dishes…perhaps my favorite things to collect…my love of nature and the colour green…just doesn't get any better than that….they look especially lovely with white china….you have shown beautiful examples here….yum! N.xo
You have a beautiful serene home and store. Those leaf dishes are lovely and a perfect accessory, both pretty and functional.
Sarah
Hi Loi That's a great collection all so, so beautiful and elegant. Love!
Hello Loi, I really admire all the imaginative uses you have found for this collection. So often large collections are simply arrayed on a shelf or (in my case) put away. Coming across these leaf dishes in different ways makes us appreciate their qualities all the more.
–Jim
Hi Loi – Such a charming and useful collection of dishes. Your shop and home look wonderful–i's a treat to see a few other views of those amazing spaces. Have a great week!
xo,
Deborah
What a fabulous collection of leaves you have Loi. That bud vase from your client is wonderful too. I always love seeing pictures of your home, you have some stunning pieces. I hope you, Tom, Panda and Mocha are all doing well.
XXX
Debra~
I'm very ambivalent about saying goodbye to summer this year. We went for a hike in the Cascades yesterday and the vine maples were already starting to turn – it seems too soon, that summer went too fast. But I am loving your foliage collection – those creamware plates are amazing! Love how you've deployed these lovely leaves throughout your beautiful home. Happy September!
As always – adore your collections. I also love the gray cable throw you draped over the headboard. I need to remember that idea!
Loi-
You have some of the most unique and beautiful collections. Such a treat, and I am going to make my own dipping oil after seeing this! You were very lucky to find a large collection.
I am so excited about fall and winter, and welcome it!
Happy Sunday.
Teresa
xoxo
Color me speechless, Loi. Every image in this post is worthy of a magazine spread. I've grown really fond of majolica pieces but don't know much about them. Knowing your taste and experience in the business, I'd love to read a post with more about the history of the style. Happy Sunday!
Loi, I have four white leaf dishes that I bought a few years ago. I have used them repeadetly for Holiday gatherings and for Fall decor. Your collection is so lovely. I also have a beautiful vase from my aunt that was passed down to me that she gave me as a wedding gift because I had admired it in her home for years. Such a special vase to me. It has the most lovely maple leave on the front of it. I need to get that out for my Fall decor. Always inspiring me on your blog, I love my visits here,
Kathysue
Hi Loi,
I am smitten with your collection of leaf plates! I have a few myself, but none in white. Under your styling hand they really do illustrate simplicity at its best.
And speaking of Santa Maria Novella, – visiting that ancient apothecary in Florence is one of my favorite travel memories. I love their potpourri, it's richly complex scents literally last for years.
Wishing you some lovely fall weather,
Suzanne
Hi Loi! Firstly, thank you for continuing to follow/support me and my humble blog. Your comments are heartfelt and welcome. Secondly, thank you for continuing to share your fine gifts with us; your elegant taste, quiet eye and serene abode. The world is more beautiful with you in it. xob
Greetings! It is interesting how some motif or some style becomes dominant one particular season. Is it a collective effort on behalf of the design world? You may have a better answer to that.
So leaf is in 🙂 I just did a post on "Quilted" vests and jackets, they seem to be in for fall. Let us see what else is in 🙂
There is that Swedish secretary again! I'm still swooning over it from the last post! Loving our leaf collection and that bud vase is very lovely too! The portrait on your nightstand definitely caught my eye; gorgeous! xx
I love your leaf plates Loi. I think my favorite are the white colored ones. So beautiful. Your house is amazing! Thanks for sharing your leaf collection with us.
Susan xoxo
What a gorgeous leaf collection, and I love that they are perfect for so many things. The ones with the bleached pinecones look so pretty. And the bonus here, I get to see more or your amazing home!! Hope you've had a wonderful weekend ~
Hi Loi!
This little collection is so charming. I also remember those white pinecones! I love those and must try to paint a few this year….when I have some down time :). I always love seeing photos of your beautiful shop too! Have a great week-
Sarah XO
Great post idea! Love more shots of your fabulous home. These leaf dishes remind me of a project I did in girl scouts years and years ago. We rolled out clay, laid doilies on top ( mine was a leaf pattern!) and cut it out in the clay. Then we rolled balls of clay to prop up the edges of the newly formed bowl until it dried. Then we glazed and fired them. I wish I had kept mine, it looks like your majolica leaf dishes! Have a great week.
xo Nancy
Olá,
sua casa é linda, cada vez que vejo sua linda decoração, vejo que tenho muitas coisas em minha casa. Amei esses pratos folha, aqui um tempo atras era comum se encontrar pratos no formato de folhas, hoje em dia não se encontra mais. Um pena morar longe de sua cidade, eu adoraria ir conhecer sua loja, tem belíssimos móveis, o estilo que gosto.
Tenha uma ótima semana, aqui agora vai começar a primavera, estamos sentindo falta do calor, está frio demais.
such a perfect little touch! love all your uses!
Loi,
Such a charming post! I love seeing your collection and the ways in which you use it!
The leaves on my dogwood are beginning to change, so it won't be long before the oaks and maples are behind them!!! Since I've moved to the Northeast, Fall is definitely my favorite season!
Here's to a beautiful fall foliage!
xoxo Elizabeth
Just beautiful Loi! I too love 'leaf' design table ware and have a lovely Portuguese collection of green 'cabbage' plates and bowls which I particularly like to use in the summer. Your home looks as beautiful as ever……and I adore that Swedish 'Secretaire'!
Have a lovely week,
Sophia x
What an apropos time to display loose Leaves! Autumn is just about here and those lovely leaf shaped accessories truly do the trick!
Gorgeous boudoir my friend!!
Best,
Karolyn
Pretty dish, pretty greens and a beautiful bedroom…thanks for sharing your lovely photos with us!
Love your lovely leaf dish collection Loi! Wonderful colors, especially the green. I like that you put them to practical use too! You're bedroom is dreamy. If I get to D.C. I am so visiting your shop!
Monica
Your home and collections are lovely. I host a weekly link party called Seasonal Sundays. It would be wonderful to have you link.
– The Tablescaper
Great post and photos! Love your leaf dish collection. I live in the DC area as well…where do you purchase your Santa Maria Novello products?
Thank you kindly! They have a small store in Chevy Chase, MD. It's near Anthropologie. Loi
Hi Loi, you collection is amazing. I think my favorite vignette is the one on the table. How fun to collect all over the world.
Loi, I hope that you have a fabulous weekend!
(Waving to Elizabeth!) 😉
Happy Weekend, dear Loi! I love the sweet leaf dishes, and your gorgeous styling…that green is so stunning!!
In addition to leaf-shaped pieces, I collect little flower ones as well…anything to bring visions of NATURE indoors…
And Santa Maria Novella!! How I wish we had a shop in Mpls.
Hugs,
– Irina
Your collection of leaf dishes is quite wonderful!
I love the simple beauty of them!
the scented geranium on your dining table is genius~ Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Donna
All of your leaf dishes and pictures are refreshing and beautiful!
I adore your leaf collection! I love all the different uses for them too! Your soap dish is my favorite…so pretty! I am going to have to keep my eyes out for leaves!
These are lovely, thanks for sharing Loi. So enjoy your blog, you are a true inspiration, and I find your positive attitude so energising. Thanks.
Sheena – Edinburgh
Your collection is beautiful Loi, I can truly see the appeal and the versatility of these subtle but beautiful pieces! I have a couple of small ones – not antiques, but I love to use them as small garnish dishes when guests are around. I'll be sure to be on the look out for these leaf patterned dishes from now on. Have a great day dear!
wonderful furnitures! i love the secretary desc and armchair 🙂
all the best for you int his autumn 🙂
So you will be entirely responsible for my new obsession…..I am totally loving the small leaf plates.
Hi. Love these posts. I loooove everything in your store. I could come scoop up every item. I especially love the lip topped table, the Swedish bergere and the secretary. Since it's so hard to see color it looks like they are grey. The secretary has teal inside? Can you tell me two things? 1) the exact gray color on the walls in your master and the color of your side table and who they come from ie, Ben. Moore, SW, etc. thanks so much.
Hi, I just found your blog from a mention at Devine Theater's blog. I am now a subscriber!
The pictures of your furniture are just what I need for inspiration when I paint my furniture projects.
So nice to find you.