So your Grandma Beatrice left you her fancy Tazza and Great Aunt Sally has gifted you a stunning compote, what are you to do with them? Use them darn it! Look, if we were talking about a sixteenth century priceless porcelain dish, I’d tell you to be careful and leave it in the cabinet, (or give it to a museum). Unlike clothing that wore out or was disposed of after use or alteration, tableware lasted. Sure, pieces broke, but rarely were whole sets destroyed and because of the initial cost of most tableware, even chipped or cracked pieces were rarely thrown away. Sure, you can check if your pattern is especially rare, but likely, it is not. Tableware was meant to be used, it loses its meaning if it’s left in cupboards or attics waiting for a “special occasion” that never comes.
Below, I took an example from the first group of Victorian Serving Dishes. My tazza isn’t very large and it’s not solid silver, so I couldn’t put quite so much fruit on it. I really loved the idea of having a pineapple in the arrangement given their historic importance to the Victorians, but they are much larger now than they would have been in Victorian times, so it limited how much piling up I could do. I took the most important parts of making an arrangement to be that I needed have some motion upward, which was achieved by using the pineapple, and the I needed some droopy bits on each side, which was arrived at thanks to the grapes.
So, you may notice that my arrangement is not exceptional, and that’s okay. I’m a big believer in, “it’s good enough”. I’ve was quite a perfectionist when I was younger and consequently I wasn’t very satisfied 99% of the time. Giving up on perfection made me 100% happier, (and more successful). So, remember that it doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to make you happy.
The Inspiration 
My tazza. 
Trying out combinations. 
Almost there.
Here are some inspirational images for using your compotes, comports and tazzas:
