Chinaholic Syndrome -- So Many Place Settings; So Little Time To Collect Them

HELLO. MY NAME IS LARRY Kreisman and I am a chinaholic. Have been for years. Can't seem to stop, really. So many patterns, so little space. I've got 10 sets of fine china, both antique and new. Then there are the partial sets, and the everyday sets, and the hand-painted and decorated plates I've picked up over the years.

There are also five or six patterns I've eyed on my frequent "window shopping" browses through the local chinaware stores. And those china companies know it. They keep coming out with new designs and quietly, without warning, discontinue others - sometimes before a person can buy a complete set. What will I do if Nikko discontinues that wonderful William Morris design before I commit to it?

Trio, Royal Glimmer, Plymouth, Lucia and Diamante are names that mean nothing to the average stay-at-home, but to the chinaholic are instantly recognizable as patterns by Villeroy, Mikasa, Minton, Lenox and Ginori. Then there are the old family heirloom and antique and secondhand store finds that are long out of production, like my parents' lilac-patterned Aynsley or the late Dorothy Bullitt's everyday Minton.

Chinaholics have a jargon all their own. A true chinaholic can instantly distinguish between a deep plate and flat plate, cream soup and bouillon, coffee and tea cup, and easily be able to justify why having eight or 12 of each kind is absolutely necessary.

No, I don't entertain that often. But that's not the point, is it? Few of my dinner guests have the same appreciation for porcelain and ornament that I have. Sometimes I think it's obsessive, decadent and totally unreasonable to have so many plates, so many cups and saucers. What will become of them in the earthquake? How will I recycle the multi-colored shards into new place settings?

I take comfort in knowing I am not alone. In fact, I find I am rather modest in my addiction. One person I spoke to doesn't think he is a chinaholic, but with a dozen sets, I'd certainly include him. In his travels he had gone into many historic homes, and couldn't help but notice the china, silver and crystal that symbolized a high quality of life. He sees the great range of chinaware in the market today as affording that quality of life to people no matter what their income levels or their living situation. He finds china appealing because of its "portable beauty."

SO WHAT'S SO GREAT about china or porcelain? There's nothing new in it. Earthenware was used for serving and sipping in Europe and Asia for many thousands of years. The damask tablecloth didn't come until relatively late: the 12th century. But by the Renaissance, with fork and napkin in hand, civilized dining had begun. All that needed to happen was the introduction of porcelain to Holland and England from Asia via the Dutch East India Company.

Porcelain is translucent. It is also nonporous, making it ideal for holding food and sauces without absorbing them. Europeans tried to duplicate the Asian formulas and, in 1709, John Boettger of Dresden, Germany, succeeded. From then on, porcelain factories emerged in Germany, England and France. Hand-painted dinnerware was highly prized and equally highly priced. But with industrialization and the factory process also came the transfer process, which gave manufacturers the ability to reproduce the most ornate decorative motifs on decals that were transferred to the surface of the dish. Glazed and re-fired, these became the backbone of the industry.

And speaking of bone, the English refined traditional porcelain by using crushed bone or bone ash in the clay mix for a whiter, brighter finish that we know as "bone china." Check out the label on the back of your Minton, Royal Doulton and Wedgwood. From neoclassical to Egyptian revival, from Chinese to Cubist, chinaware patterns reflect interior design and decoration trends of the period. Some patterns, like those of the Royal Copenhagen, Wedgwood or Haviland Limoges factories, have been in continuous production for hundreds of years. Others may be new today and off the shelf tomorrow.

WHATEVER THE PATTERN and the company, Sonny Sine probably can tell you about it. I met her years ago at Frederick & Nelson, where she was the china meyvn - that's Yiddish that roughly translates to "resident china pattern expert." She had clued me to the big warehouse sale at which the store would be unloading a large amount of Trio, a pattern I collected and Villeroy had discontinued. I got to the warehouse early, was pushed through the doors by the swell of the crowd and, by the time I got to the chinaware, the Trio was nowhere in sight. I turned to find a woman with a large shopping cart and no fewer than eight boxed sets and numerous odds and ends. Was she buying to open a restaurant? Surely she could part with one or two of the boxes. No, she said, she was keeping them all. Years later, I discovered that Sonny had sent her friend to pick up remainders for her! Sonny is still selling china and still collecting it. She's known for hosting dinner parties where each guest can choose from among her many patterns, and create their own place setting by mixing and matching. I've been told she even has silverware to go with each of her sets, having been collecting antique silver for more than 30 years.

Sonny adores salad plates, and frequently uses her basic white china as a backdrop for dramatic, admittedly ornate patterned salad plates. Along with traditional and muted designs, she must have the definitive Fitz and Floyd salad plate collection. Sonny's personal love for porcelain makes her a great salesperson. To the window-shoppers who hesitate, she encourages buying one or two pieces at the start. "Why not do it? It adds interest to your table. Even if you can't afford a whole set, most people can afford salad plates, and you can always use them."

Bernice Chouery worked at Frederick & Nelson for 20 years, most of that time in the china department. That store was truly the training ground for chinaholics in Seattle. It was Chouery, I found out, who stood her ground with shopping cart at that warehouse sale years ago. Her 20 sets and odds and ends are packed in boxes or on shelves on two floors. When I chatted with her recently, she was just cleaning up after her 5-year-old's birthday party, "and you can bet they ate their cake off of bone china." Chouery is continually searching to complete sets and add to those she has. "I know the phone numbers of all the replacement and finder services by heart. Replacements Ltd. is the best. They have a seven-acre warehouse in North Carolina."

Chouery's Norwegian mother had dishes for everyday, for luncheons, fine china for dinners, and a Friendship cup collection. The daughter's own preferences are for patterns that have a long history. Her Royal Copenhagen blue and white ware has been in continuous production for centuries, and each piece is initialed and numbered.

Chouery covets her china, but she also has seven sets she is giving away to nieces and nephews for birthdays, Christmas presents and graduation. "I don't give clothes, I give china." A while ago she offered to bring cups to a friend's party and it was then that she took count and discovered, to her amazement, that she could serve 495 people tea!

FOR THE ASPIRING chinaholic, top-of-the-line is probably hand-painted and gilt Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica, at $3,250 a place setting. With 702 different flowers in the complete set, every piece is unique.

Brad Patterson commutes from Yakima, where he is a chef, to his Seattle studio, where he frequently entertains on the weekends. A connoisseur of tableware, he has four sets of dinnerware in each place. He can set a table of Flora Danica for six, but admits that it's a bit too elegant for hamburgers and pastas. That's why he has on hand settings of Chausson, an English stoneware with rich Chinese motifs in blue and brick red. He also has "a couple hundred pieces" of Majolica - everything from compotes to cake plates - for hearty wintertime meals.

I toured Windsor Castle several years ago. A hush fell over the group as we entered the great banquet hall with its mile-long table. I remember how impressed I was when a guide told us it was possible for Her Majesty to have a sit-down dinner for 250, all from one set. Now that's a true chinaholic!

Lawrence Kreisman is author of six publications on regional architecture and historic preservation. He writes regularly for Pacific. Harley Soltes is a Seattle Times photographer.

-------------- WHERE TO START --------------

Here's a starter list of area china shops that carry a wide-ranging assortment of manufacturers, as well as some replacement services for those inevitable broken cups.

-- Andersen's China Crystal Silver 1480 N.W. Gilman Blvd., Suite L1 Issaquah, WA 98027. -- 833 Bellevue Way N.E. Bellevue, WA 98004 1 800-541-1241. -- Porcelain Gallery 2426 32nd Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98199 284-5893. -- China, Silver & Crystal Shop 2809 Second Ave. Seattle, WA 98121 441-8906. -- J. F. Henry 4540 California Ave. S.W. Seattle, WA 98116 935-5150. -- Patterns Unlimited Discontinued patterns P.O. Box 15238 Seattle, WA 98115 523-9710. -- Replacements, Ltd. 1089 Knox Road P.O. Box 26029 Greensboro, NC 27420 1-800-562-4462 (919) 697-3000. -- Bon Marche Various locations. -- Also check out the factory outlet stores for Mikasa and Royal Doulton at Pacific Edge Outlet Center in Burlington.