I had spotted a sizable set of Russel Wright Steubenville dinnerware all in grey at an estate sale Saturday that opened an hour after the sale where I picked up the Overman swivel recliner. I didn't waste any time at the first sale and got to the second sale about an 15 minutes before it started only to find I was picking up number 12. Hmmm.
You might think that because I had what I would consider a high number that I got snaked on the
Russel Wright dinnerware. Well, this estate sale was at a condominium on the second floor and
the staff was taking us up five at a time. Somehow enough people failed to show at opening time
to get me a spot on the first ride up!
So I get upstairs and there are four or five other people in front of me with lower numbers so I let
them all get inside the apartment first. The last guy in before me was sooooooo slow too. It was
excruciating walking so slowly behind that fella, but he was there before me. I was worried about
nothing though. The other buyers weren't interested as far as I could tell. And for real, after
perusing the set and checking the asking price, my interest waned as well.
It was a large set with maybe 20 dinner plates and a number of serving pieces but lots of the
pieces had chips or cracks and it was ALL grey. Grey, grey, greeeyyyyy. No thanks. I thought
about puting a bid in the bid box but they had a note on it stating that they didn't accept bids for
less than half the asking and I would have bid maybe a third.
After begrudgingly giving up on the Russel Wright I poked through the kitchen and turned up this
super sweet chip and dip set with 8 highballs sitting next to it! Upon initial inspection of the chip
and dip I noticed the Lucite holder for the dip and toothpick bowls and my little heart skipped a
beat. Then I saw a sticker inside the bowl. Snap. Dorothy Thorpe. The real deal.
Although the drink glasses were sitting right next to the chip and dip set there is no way to be
sure that they are Dorothy Thorpe as well. Too bad that. The other thing you may notice, if you
read that sticker closely, is that the chip and dip is crystal and silver plate. Not chrome like you
see on so many of the Dorothy Thorpe style glassware. Sure, it'll polish up all nice, but it'll never
look like chrome. That leads me to believe that the glassware is also Dorothy Thorpe since it
obviously isn't chrome.
Not a bad haul for walking into an estate sale fail. Oh, I also picked up and incomplete and
somewhat washer burnt primary mixing bowl Pyrex set...missing it's green bowl, for cheap. Crap,
maybe I AM collecting Pyrex.
I will have to check Dorothy Thorpe out now. I love when I find new (old) mid century designer to learn about and then look for pieces hidden in the mix, so to speak! I recently got a cute chip 'n dip set myself, don't think it's anything fancy, but it was cheap and I like it and have used it several times already!
ReplyDeleteI have a few pieces of the gray Steubenville, but I don't think you should feel bad about passing it up. The main reason I quit collecting it is the same reason Russel Wright quit making it (and the same reason you didn't buy that set)...American Modern chips and cracks and crazes like crazy. On the other hand, my Iroquois Casual is used daily and goes through the dishwasher constantly and still looks brand new. Not a chip or crazed spot anywhere.
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