We had milk glass in our minds after looking at the sweet vintage giveaway that AT SF did last Thursday. Then when we saw our friend Maggie's stunning collection this weekend, we wanted to revisit what we had originally been thinking was a bit old-ladyish for us...
Its hard to look at milk glass without thinking of your or someone's grandma who probably collected it like ours did. When we were growing up, we particularly liked the animal-shaped dishes in the glass cabinet we mostly couldn't touch. But we hadn't seen it much lately. Now, seeing it displayed in a white bookshelf or on a cool blue wall makes it look right at home in a contemporary house as well.
We think milk glass got a bum rap when some floral shops started to use cheap imitations for floral displays, or when diners started to put plastic flowers in reproduction milk glass vases on tables. But seeing the real deal again reminds us of how beautiful it is, and of the satisfaction of collecting something you love and the feeling it gives you when you add a new piece to the shelf.
You can find milk glass on Ebay, and in almost any antique store or coop. But it's best to know what you are looking for, or just buy it because you like it. Time to take that box of grandma's down from the attic, I think.
-Jeanine
Copyright © 2008 Apartment Therapy
i have a few of those same pieces! i love milkglass :)
view animalhouze's profile
I was so pleased to see this post....My Mother-In-Law and Aunt collect....it is just beautiful! Christmas and Thanksgiving Dinners are just beautiful....all decked out in white! To see a table of 12 or more all set is just a treat!
I only hope the post will not make it harder to find....;-)
Thanks!
view belleray's profile
I love milk glass too; it's always so clean and crisp to me. I have several pieces and it looks great on my dark wood hutch or my more modern line green cabinet.
view grandee's profile
LOVE MILKGLASS I HAVE HAD SOME PIECES FOR A LONG TIME THEY WERE MY MOTHERS. I ALSO LOVE MAGGIES COLLACTION WITH HER DARK WALLS THE COLLECTION IS OUT STANDING. RUBYROSE.
view rubyrose's profile
Hey, I used to have those hands. It is actually a soap dish from Avon. Unfortunately my niece broke it.
view citygirlincountry's profile
I love milk glass precisely because it's so modern looking when taken out of the old-ladyish context! I have a mixed collection in the bathroom mostly and it works perfectly with our white bathroom/mostly black art on the walls/celery green towels etc.
view marie516's profile
Beautiful, intricate, delicate design that does surprisingly work in a modern context because of its crisp clean edge. Put a candle in it and it glows like alabaster.
view patois's profile
Milk glass is definitely my new obsession. I pick up a few pieces a week. It's so easy to find. It makes me happy. The colored milk glass is even cooler, though. Pastel blues and pinks. Oh yeah. My current favorite purchase is a blue milk glass rooster container. :)
view lindsay's profile
Milk glass is so beautiful. I own several of the pieces that were displayed in the pictures. I used to have a beautiful milk glass fruit bowl that one of my cats destroyed...luckily it wasn't too heartbreaking, it only cost me 1.00.
view suzy8track's profile