Vintage China Is So Old It’s New Again

You know what looks good on vintage china? Everything. I know this because I cook the same boring breakfast every weekend, yet when I eat those soft-cooked eggs on handed-down plates with garish butterflies, people tap my photos like I’m Ryan McGinley. No wonder vintage plates are edging out austere ceramics at restaurants, too. I’ve eaten collard greens off a chipped rose-patterned one at Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans, sliced into a very expensive steak atop stately china at Bateau in Seattle, and admired a little cookie at NYC’s Té Company, made sweeter by some elegant gold-rimmed grandma-ware. Here are some of our favorite vintage dishes from across the country.