A to Z April Challenge: R is for Rice Dishes

This is a continuation of LAST APRIL’s challenge about HEIRLOOMS. When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly “valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it, keep it, or throw it away? To help ensure a future for our family’s heirlooms, I plan to leave a booklet for my daughters telling the stories of what they will inherit one day. (Not TOO soon, I hope!)

is for the Rice Dishes that my grandaunt Velma Davis Woodring brought back from Korea. She taught there several years in the Department of Defense Dependents school. She gave the set to my mother, and for many years it was our fine china.

The dishes are white with a subtle gold accent along the rim, handles and foot of each piece. Unfortunately, some of the gold has worn off here and there on pieces used more often. There are over 12 place settings that include a dinner plate, salad plate, bread and butter plate, fruit bowls, coffee cups and saucers, and cream soup bowls. 

A casserole dish, gravy boat, two meat platters, tea pot, and two sets of cream and sugar bowls complete the set. 

The marking says the dishes were manufactured by Seyei Regal China and “Hand carved” in Japan. The pattern is “Pearl Rice.” 

As a child, I thought the rice design was actual rice, but apparently that is where the hand carving came into play. What makes these dishes unique is the translucence of the rice pattern.

Pearl Rice by Seyei is demanding a pretty good price on eBay, Etsy, Worthpoint, and even Replacements. However, I have been unable to learn anything at all about the Seyei company. 

Wendy

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