IÂm a Vesselarian want-2-be. I have Zero bowls/platters with which to serve  I just use mixing bowls or Tupperware Sad I knowÂ

But you can help! If you have seen a great bowl  a Vesselarian Bowl (or platter)  give me the link!

Oh, Steff! Thanks for the thread! Beautiful bowl.

My favorite is also my first: It's an elongated turquoise to magenta, art glass bowl that always sat on my grandmother's coffee table. When we were asked what we wanted after my grandparents died, I just asked for that and the kitchen stool, so I got both. It pays not to be greedy. :)

It's still packed away, however, so I can't show a picture. And I tried to take pictures of the beautiful wood bowls my father made, but they're on a high shelf and the pics came out blurry.

Here is the big bowl I mentioned in my first meal thread that I dumped the salad into when my father said the bowl it started in was too small for tossing.

Jeri, this is the size and shape bowl I mentioned in my reply to you that's a great first bowl. It's 3.75" tall and 14" in diameter. It is so useful!! I have a matching platter that's about 16" in diameter and a plate that's 11". I'd received a gift card to Sur Le Table and bought them with it.

This should be a fun post -kind of like an antiques road show, watching what comes up with some intersting history and what not. Unfortunately, all my "vessels" are still packed away awaiting their place in my new kitchen.

Plllog  I love that bowl! If you asked my family they would tell you that I have a thing for sunflowers. I would order that bowl if I could find it  then it would forever remind me of this wonderful forum and all the generous friends here.

This is not a bowl  but it did come from Sur La Table. We purchased a 54" square table for our new home and I really wanted a lazy Susan for it. This is made from the top of a wine cask and the underside is stained red from the wine. The top has markings from the Winery as well  itÂs really cool.
{{!gwi}}

Love those bowls plllog! Sunny and fun.

jeri - Exactly right, this thread is for inspiration and discussion too. Just for the record, there is plenty of Tupperware and assorted plasticware in my cabinets. Don't forget to check out Thrift Shops and Estate Sales.

Link to the original thread that inspired this one is below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Link to plllog's thread

plllog! Are those the salad servers? They are seriously cute.

Jeri - That wine cask top lazy susan is beautiful.

Jeri, the bowl is Italian ceramic under their own label. I don't know if it was online. They might still have it at one of the stores, but it's been a few years. Love the wine cask susan. It's nice when they look nice and interesting when they're empty.

I love mixing bowls too! I don't know why they don't reissue the Pyrex mixing bowls. My mother had two sets so gave me one of the big ones. My favorite is the etched old clear glass bowl from the '60's Mixmaster! And I really love the graduated red melamine bowls that were a gift. The ones you've all been complimenting in my early pics.

Crate & Barrel has what looks like the same as the nesting ones in multi-colors, as well as the non-slip pouring bowls in white. I've often used the nesting bowls for serving, and was using the biggest one for a rinse bowl in the sink before I got my new dishpan.

Yes, Steff, they also work well! They're Michael Aram.

Oh, Steff, I really love that bowl, and it's so much better because of its history! I have no bowls with any lengthy history, other than that I think they all relate back to memories of my mom's big, ceramic, bread-dough-rising bowl...I think it had red edges. :-)

Maybe I can take some bowl photos tomorrow...

Symptoms and signs:

I own an asparagus platter - majolica, hand painted. And some fish-shaped bowls. And some stoneware. And some salt-glazed bowls, too many tea pots, raku, and a little glass.

When I go to a museum, I hit the decorative arts part first.

I do not covet the hope diamond or other jewelry, but I have caught myself trying to justify why I need a very expensive -bowl-vase-statue-plate-angel-wall hanging. (this is true) I went to the tower of london for a night tour and was disappointed their collection was only the crown jewels. I thought, well, at least a Faberge tea service? but no, just some old, weirdly shaped crowns.

You too, might be afflicted if deep down inside, you're afraid to come back to this thread because you covet each example.

LOL, bmorepanic. Great definition and I'm definitely there. Love looking at those asparagus dishes, they look so pretty.

I'm currently on the trail of a real lasagna baker. This involves serious research and decision making. Size, color, ruffled sides? I'm having fun with it.

Love the bowls (and especially the stories/history behind them).

Here's my favorite bowl, . It's actually a set of three mixing bowls, but I never use them for mixing anything. No loving family history behind it. Purchased from a local Austin hardware/housewares store. One of the set got chipped when I used it as a compost bowl, but I still love them, dings and all.

Ooh. This is a ginormous pic. Sorry. Trying out my new photobucket account, and can't figure out how to resize.

I didn't know there was such a thing as vesselarians, but I think I might be one. And I don't have a big collection yet. That is going to change with this new kitchen.

Could a person have a collection displayed let's say in a hutch - or is that over the top? Would the key be to making sure they all "match" together - like don't throw blown glass ones in with ceramic one?

I have 2 hutches and an open display of 3 shelves all in the kitchen area fill with something.

Pickle2, is that a Mason Cash bowl? I fell in love with a giant white one that was similarly styled at a kitchen store in Seattle.

I already posted photos of the bowl set a ceramics teacher friend made for our housewarming gift on Plllog's thread, but here they are again:

These are just the standard store bought kind, but I particularly like the shape of the green one:

Bread rising bowl I had made several years ago. I could use a bigger one now:

This isn't a bowl, but think it counts as a vessel? I found it at a Salvation Army Thrift Store. Not sure how old it might be. We use it for our compost bucket. Unfortunately, it doesn't look quite this nice and clean any more!

This is the only vessel I have with much history. It was from a set of dishes my grandmother had. She used these little bowls any time company came over, when she'd serve ice cream and cookies. It means love and gracious hospitality to me...And I'm trying to figure out how to have it displayed or out to use in my kitchen...To be able to see it, but not have it look tacky.

I think displaying one's kitchen mixing bowls in a carved and gilded, lit curio cabinet--that isn't an heirloom itself--is over the top. In a kitchen or dining area hutch where they can be seen but aren't the only focal point? Sounds perfect to me!!! I'm talking about work bowls here. Pretty bowls, serving bowls, whatever, can certainly hold the entire focal point!

As to the ceramic and glass, again, I'd put the fancy, arty, showy pieces together, and the more homey, working bowls together. Pickle's pretty mixing bowl could go either way: I wouldn't choose to put it with the Tupperware, but I wouldn't put it with art glass either. Given the choice, I'd just hold it up and see which looked better.

Go for it!! Vesselarians Unite!

Sigh. Rhome has a vessel case! I love that green bowl!!

I don't think your grandmother's dish would look tacky on a display holder. You can always add a plaque saying "Gracious Hospitality / Grandmother's ice cream dish." I've noticed that things with labels get elevated, probably because they start looking a little like museum displays. :) Also because the label explains why you have an ornate dish displayed where you have so many plainer styled things.

You could even make little easel tags for your vessel case :)

Loving all these beautiful bowls! I think I fall into this category as well. I have a few, but the 2 I turn to time & time again are:

This one was a wedding present. I use it all the time - I'm a sucker for anything with handpainted flowers :)

And this one, was a gift from my SIL - its from Ikea. When she gave it to me I thought - 'It's beautiful, but its huge - when will I use it (& where will I store it??) Well it is actually the perfect salad bowl. All the veggies don't sink to the bottom b/c it is wide & shallow. I've had it over 10 yrs & use it non stop.

Rhome, yes, it is a Mason Cash!

I love your grandmother's dish. It would look beautiful in a stand somewhere. On the window sill? Surrounded by some plain white/cream ceramics?

Oooh...I like the idea of white/cream pieces surrounding the special little bowl..

Rumor has it that my 'vessel case' will someday have glass doors, and look strangely like a 'dish hutch.' ;-) And even thought the glass will have some texture to it to mask the dreaded finger prints, it will definitely be clear enough to see the vessels through. :-)

Thanks to my potted, err potter SWMBO, we have lots of vessels around here. We're actually overflowing with vessels. Every now and again she sweeps up all the excess and brings them to our friend, who owns a sort of food & wine & local stuff store in a coastal town, to sell off. But some pieces have stuck around long enough to become my favorites. There are quite a few, but here are a couple.

These are our plates for dinners that are nicer than the everyday plates but not formal enough for the china. The rims are hand-carved. mostly by SWMBO but the kids did a few. We have a dozen or so, kept on the dish rail in the dining room.

Also a dishrail denizen, this is a leaf-pattern shallow salad bowl/dish. Its fairly unique, I wish she'd make some more.

A serving dish I use a lot, this large, shallow, hand painted bowl is perfect for stirfries.

These are sort of wavy square dessert dishes with a fleur-de-lis pattern and red glaze. We have stacks of these, At party time, we use them for ceviche, ice cream, that sort of thing.

I'd post some more but its getting late.

Oooooh!

Those are really nice johnliu.

Now I need a vessel case, too.

Yikes, johnliu - those ruby fleur-de-lis trays are way cool! I bet they stack well, too.

I guess in honor of plllog, we (of the vesselarian-oriented ilk) are now and forever irreversibly
members of "The L. O. V."

Here is my "go to bowl." Not too big, not too small - perfect for multitudinous duties.
I got it in Albuquerque, NM when we took our motorhome for it's first big maiden voyage to the Kodak Balloon Fiesta.

There was a wonderful arts and crafts show featuring local artists and I bought 3 handcrafted bowls
with full intention of giving them for gifts when we got back home.

I didn't. I kept 'em. ;-)