We cleared the mantle and handed it over to Desert Rose. Plates up on the wall racks, the big oval platter propped where the light finds it, and the serving pieces lined up underneath: the covered casserole, the gravy boat, the sugar and creamer, a row of rosebuds, and a salad bowl big enough for a holiday. If you grew up with this pattern, you already know the feeling.
Franciscan Desert Rose came out of a California pottery in 1941 and went on to become one of the best-selling dinnerware patterns this country has ever produced. Odds are decent it was on your grandmother’s table, or your aunt’s, or in the cupboard of the house you grew up in. The pink roses and green leaves are raised right out of the clay rather than printed onto it, and every one of them was painted by hand.
The gold mirror above pulls the vignette together, and a crocheted lace runner spills over the mantle edge exactly the way it would have in 1955. The pink lamp is not Desert Rose, but it belongs.
People come at this pattern two ways. Some are finishing a set they inherited and need precisely one gravy boat. Others are starting from nothing because the roses simply make them happy. Both are welcome here, and the serving pieces are always the hard part to find, which is what makes a spread like this worth the trip.
Come see the whole mantle at Pollyanna’s Antiques in downtown Mt. Clemens, open Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 to 4. Bring your list if you are filling gaps.