Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-09-11
FAMOUS PLATES.
Valuable Collection of News.
paper Mans Wife.
RARE, DAINTY DISHES OF RULERS.
The Princess OF Wales Has the Thinnest
China of French Make, While the
Queens is Heavy.

One of the oldest fads | ever knew
is that of a Washington lady. the wife
of well-known newspaper correspond
emit and author. She has travelled all
over the world and has endeavored to
bring away from every capital, as a
souvenir of her visit. dinner plate
that once belonged to. and bears the
crest of, some famous man or woman
or monarch. says CORRESPONDENT of
the Cincinnati Tribune. Her collec-
tion is large and includes samples of
the chinaware of nearly every country.
Some of them are odd. others COM
monplace, and some are fine and
beautiful. There are many collections
of teapots and urns and vases, but
this Is the only collection of plates
that l know. 1t is the custom in the
palaces of the old world to refurnish
the private apartments and provide a
now table service whenever monarch
is crowned. 1t is usually of domestic
manufacture. for in every country of
Europe are porcelain works, and always
of special pattern designed to suit the
taste OF that particular sovereign,
although the celebrated manufaotory
at Seyres, France, has furnished the
china of many of the royal families of
Europe for two or three centuries.
When the new one comes in the old Is
slowed away somewhere on the top
shelves of the imperial pantry. and
this lady reports that in only two or
three instances has she failed to per-
suade the attendants who snow visitors
about the palaces to overhaul it and
secure for her collection: samples Of
the plates upon which the dead kings
and emperors have dined.
The china of Queen Victoria, like
that estimable lady herself, is very
simple and plain, and it has been fur
nished for years by single and FAM
GUS factory at Worcester. 1t is heavy,
plain white. with a narrow gold band,
and the initials V. R.-Victoria Re-
gina-in the center. The same staid
pattern is used at Buckingham Palace
in London. Windsor Castle and the
Queens private palace at Osborne on
the Isle of Wight, and this fact is ac-
counted for by the Queens well-known
habits of economy. 1t is presumed
that the castle in the highlands of Scot
land is furnished in similar manner,
although it is never opened to visitors,
and the collector has not been able to
secure sample from that place.
The china of the Prince of Wales
comes from the same factory, but is of
great variety and more ornamental
than that of his imperial mother, and
1T ususally bears the royal crest. The
Princess of Wales has taste for de-
licate patterns, and she likes the light
est and thinnest china that can be
secured. Her cups are like egg
shells, and her plates as thin as
waters. Not long ago great fuss
was made by the English manufactur-
ers because she ordered full service of
serveral hundred pieces from France.
When the palace of the Tuileries in
Paris was sacked by the Commune the
most superb collection of china that
was ever gathered under single roof
was scattered among the people. 1t
included several dinner and breakfast
services that had belonged to and been
used by Louis XVI. Louis XIV, Napo-
leon l., Louis Philippe and Napoleon
I'LL, and all was of the finest of special
patterns designed by famous artists.
for the French Kings were fastidious
and extravagant, and the luxury of the
Empire has never been surpassed.
The palaces atssVersailles and st. Cloud
were stripped in similar manner. In
time the china was conveyed from the
Garrets of the plunderers to the pawn
brokers, and the shops of the dealers
in art and antiquities, and it has been
picked up by collectors from all over
the world. A New York gentleman
has an entire dinner service which be-
longed to Luis XVI. that was collected
for him during the course of two years
by Paris dealer in secondhand goods,
and single examples of rare quality
can be found upon the walls Of thous-
ands of houses. Millions of francs
have been made by the dealers in this
sort of ware by buying and selling the
imperial china.
Lousi XVI. was in the habit of orna-
menting his dinner plates, with the
portraits of the ladies of his court.
Louis Philippe followed his example,
and if the biographies of the ladies
were to accompany their pictures the
plates would bring much higher
price. The china of the latter mon
arch is of the rarest quality and de-
sign, but it is very common, and SAM
Piles can be purchased at almost any
antique shop in Paris, London or New
York. He almost monopolized the
Sewers factory during his reign. and
the palaces in Paris, Versailles, st.
, Cloud and Fontainebleau were filled
, with gems that have lost much Of
] their value. however, because they are
so numerous. Louis Philippe was very
fond of cupids and garlands, and thous