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Bringing Transparency to the Dinner Table

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I guess the closest thing I have to a family heirloom  is a gorgeous, ruby red punch bowl that  I use now as a fruit bowl.  I value the gem-like qualities of the bowl the same way I would if it were a real ruby, say, in a super-sized cocktail ring that was left to me.

Red glass dinner bowl
Glow of real ruby stones may have nothing on my bowl. Photo by Vivian Lingard
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The punch bowl was part of a set, but the only pieces left include three small, round  plates. Even a cracker looks elegant against this rich red background. These plates are probably the reason I love glass dinnerware, whether it is crystal clear or  in deep gemstone  colors. But I knew there wasn’t much of a chance of easily finding a modern, glass dinnerware set in deep colors.

Gleaming Ball of Cobalt

So imagine my excitement  when I walked into a Walmart store and  saw a jewel-of-a bowl in shiny cobalt blue. The bowls, which can be used for cereal or soup, are made by Anchor Hocking. I picked up four to buy, but I didn’t stop there. On Anchorhocking’s website, there was an entire 18-piece  dinnerware set selling at a big discount.  I  ordered it. Walmart also has sets online.

An 18-piece presence cobalt dinnerware set, which sells for $29.99, reduced from $78, at anchorhocking.oneida.com/‎
An 18-piece presence cobalt blue dinnerware set sells for $29.99, reduced from $78, at anchorhocking.oneida.com/‎

The great thing about glass dinnerware is it’s very cheap.  The ones we’ve seen in 18-, 20,- or 24-pieces are all under  $60. For that low price, you can set a beautifully inviting table. And since the glass dishes are muted–even the cobalt blue set is unassuming–they won’t clash with any dinnerware you might add from a non-glass set.

Glass Dinnerware on a Budget

blue glass dinnerware
Another  blue dinnerware set in Anchor Hocking’s collections is  the 24-piece Rio Coastal Blue, selling on its site for $49, reduced from $158.

Squaring It Off

The glass dinnerware collections seem to all have room for the square-shape, which adds an artsy look to the dinner table. Libby, also a large American glassmaker, has a clear, square set that looks like a flat sculpture.

square gglass dinnerware
Square simplicity is the best way to describe these pieces that are part of a Libbey 12-piece dinnerware set, sold by Target for $29.99.

Here’s an idea: If you take pieces from the cobalt blue set, add clear glass pieces (they would be a good stand-in for white) and mix them with any non-glass red dinnerware, the presentation would work for celebrating the summer holidays.

What ideas do you have for using glass dinnerware sets?

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