Deceased mom's / Grandma's china wwyd?

Same here with my grandmother's china. And I don't even like the pattern.

You're a rank amateur.     Both my dh and my bil have put moratoriums on family china.  There's only so much room.

I kept a pickle dish for my Daughter (that is all she wanted). I then sold the rest of the set for a reasonable price online. We took part of the proceeds and purchased gifts for a couple of charities at Christmas and money to the Veteran Food Bank. Some Nursing Homes and Hospice’s utilize donated china.
When I say I sold it online I mean I listed it online but someone local purchased it. I also have the pictures of the china.

This reminds me of the old Roseanne episode when she hosts Thanksgiving. Her mom asks her where her good china is and she says, “At your house until after the reading of the will.”.

My grandmother didn’t have any china that I know of. If she did, my aunt would have grabbed it up. I do have a little tea set that was hers and I love it but it’s just a teapot, cream and sugar bowl and 3 cups and saucers. I would never get rid of it. My mom is still alive but I have her china. She gave it to me when I started hosting our family Thanksgivings in 1990. I love her china.

My problem is I have my MILs. I never knew her to use it. I certainly never ate off it. I don’t have any kids and she had no grandchildren. We keep it out of guilt.

Neither of my grandmother's had china, they couldn't afford it. My aunt gave me my grandmother's good dishes which are definitely not china. The odd thing was she said she never remembered these dishes growing up and that puzzled her because she was always helping in the kitchen as the oldest and only girl for most of her youth. When I showed them to my dad who was 11 years younger than my aunt, he recognized them right away as belonging to his mother. Based on the style of the dishes, I think my grandparents got them after the war, probably when they opened a savings account. They are very plain.

I've put a couple of pieces in my hutch with a very pretty set of china I inherited from a friend. Most of the rest are in boxes somewhere to eventually be pawned off or donated. I use one saucer to hold pins in my sewing area. I often think of my grandmother and particularly my aunt when I'm using it.

With nice china, I would keep the salad plates out and use them for desserts. Sell or donate the rest.

In addition to keeping a teacup and saucer, you could hang a plate on the wall. I have several in my DR.

Donate the rest, guilt free.

I've told DD not to keep anything out of guilt. DS is not sentimental, so no problem there.

Check to see if it is Sterling. It is probably silver plate, but if it is actual Sterling, you have something of value - more than a wind chime  It should be marked "sterling" or have a .925 stamped on it.  If it is really old, the mark might be something different. 


If it is not sentimental to you, it might have a decent melt price. I am not following the silver price now, so it might not be great at the moment, but sometimes it can be quite valuable.

I have seen sterling silver sets in the wooden boxes sell at household auctions for not much money. Boy did I kick myself for not buying them when the melt price went up.

If you don't love it and use it then let it go along with any guilt.

I love the idea of keeping one or two complete sets - plate, salad plate, cup and using them with your regular dishes. I love different dishes, and HATE matched sets, so this is something that makes me happy.

Side note: I buy a glass when I go on vacation. A beer glass usually, even though I don't drink beer and I use it for water. I have bought mugs, too. My DD is home and every time she uses one of my special glasses, I say "Be careful with that, I love it," until finally she said "you love ALL your glasses and mugs!!" And I DO!! Each one has a story and it makes me happy. Use a set to tell your story and give the rest away.

My sister has my grandmother’s china. I have her silverware - I just used it last month for Passover and the kids loved it. We have a beautiful set of Dh’s grandmother’s china teacups. They’re beautiful but we’ve never used them so I don’t know what to do with them.

Is there a close family friend who might want the China?

My mom kept her mothers china because she thought she should.   She realized keeping stuff like that and not using it was stupid.  Not her and Dad use those dishes as part of their every day dishes.  Because she's not really emotionally tied to them, she doesn't care if something happens to them.  

Why not use it? There is no reason if you aren’t saving it, not to use it. It obviously has more meaning than whatever you’ve purchased for your everyday. If you break a piece, who cares? You have more and you’re not planning to give it to anyone after you’re gone. This is the time you need realize all those things you were saving for someday are going to be wasted. I don’t want to die with pristine china that was never used. Then you have to ask yourself, what was the point of having it?

I will share my story. My moms been gone 10 years now, died very young. I am an Only, but have two DS, one 24 and married, one DS 17. Mom had not 1, not two, but at least 3 different set, 2 of them she collected for years.   Had we sold them at the height of value, they would have fetched thousands. Now, all china and glass, with very few exceptions are virtually worthless.  Kills me. For years we would hunt unusual pieces to delight her for various occasions. OMG the $$$ we paid to do that. My oldest DS is an antique buff, and can easily absorb his choice into his house. I kept all of them, using a lot for everyday, and packed two of the nicest collections into 2 different large plastic tubs, and stuffed it into my closets.  I want my youngest DS to pick a set of his choosing, because DS 24 has cherry picked our attics and closets for his new house, but I want to hold on to something for DS 17. Haven't really had that conversation yet, but it is coming, soon DS24 will want some fancy dishes from his Grandma. If you like these dishes at all, use them daily, if practical. Some aren't, hand washable and all that.  If you have friends that might like it, do it. Donating it might be useless, unless what you have is worth $. China glass and dishware is selling for almost nothing these days. Makes me sick. I agree about keeping a few teacups or whatever, they do make nice little plant containers. I would be interested in knowing what you have, just out of curiosity. I have Fostoria (American) Noritaki (Cabin in the Woods) and yellow depression glass, (Dancing Lady).