
UM, how PRETTY is this Alfred Meakin dinner setting for my big NYE dinner this year?!

Found an entire dishware set (incl appy plates) for 8 at one of my Salvation Army haunts. Since I was unfamiliar w the Alfred Meakin England name in china dinnerware, I had to do a quick in-store google, but really I just grabbed the plates and soup bowls on looks alone. I’ve been wanting to incorporate some black into a set of dishes, so this seemed the perfect opportunity!

Upon further inspection at home, the watermark on this one SEEMS to show that it’s from an era just after the original Alfred Meakin AND the subsequent son’s takeover had both ended (died). Since it doesn’t have the sometimes-marked ‘Ltd’, I’m guessing it could date 1907-1913.
Other dishes online with this stamp are listed as “1891-1897” or “1907”, and I found this pattern online once or twice listed as “older”, but still no pattern name… It’s like a needle in a haystack! GEEZ! Not for lack of trying – 5,000 images of “Alfred Meakin” to no avail (thanks for nothing, ebay.uk).

That counts as an official “antique”, right?!
Wiki says an item has to be ‘at least 100 years old’ to qualify LOL. These plates are in amazing shape and feel pretty sturdy, so they could just as well be from 1990 for all I know…

Anyone have a really good antique identifier website for me???!
I was using thepotteries.org for this one.
I tried some plating ideas that might work for NYE this year, the BIGGEST, BADDEST meal of my entire cooking year. We have more than 8 ppl, so I’ll combine it with my Limoges set (which is just soooooo last years NYE hahaha).

I’m tempted to go back and grab the salad plates… SO tempted… Maybe…
I like how this print (so far unidentified) can go modern or vintage when styled on the tablescape. (Update – I totally grabbed the salad plates, too…)
NYE is my biggest cooking meal of the year, spending 3 days cooking to plate and serve an 8-12 course seated dinner over 6 hours. WITH help, of course! But that means it deserves to be plated PRETTILY, amiright?!
What’s your biggest deal meal?!


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