Royal Copenhagen’s Christmas Tables

Royal Copenhagen’s Christmas 2011 salutes family and tradition in Denmark.

With only 23 days to go before Christmas it’s not too early to think about holiday tables. So naturally, we turn to Royal Copenhagen’s Christmas tableware displays which open to the public at their flagship store. Showing the R.C. tables has become something of a tradition here at Atticmag, which Jane T first began three years ago.  Every holiday, the company selects prominent citizens to design tables in accordance with a theme, using their famous china patterns. For 2011, the  creators included owners of Denmark’s oldest pastry shop, a pair of jewelry designers, two generations of tea merchants, one of the company’s very own china designers, and a family whose holiday table revolves around fishing and the sea.

I’m beginning the tour with dessert. That’s a marron glacé (candied chestnut) [top] resting on what surely must be a whipped-cream covered chestnut mousse. This elegant table features White Fluted Half Lace china.

Set against dramatic Christmas-green velvet curtains, the mostly white-on-white table has a classical bronze sculpture, Christmas ornaments hanging by bright-colored ribbons from the chandeliers.

Horns of plenty get along well with butter cookies, chocolate bon bons and a pink confection garnished with almonds. A divinely gilded piece of Flora Danica can be recognized immediately from the pierced lattice pattern and its 18th-century vibe.

One of the newest dinnerware patterns – Blue Elements – works perfectly with the fishing theme of this table. I love the lures tied with twine around the monogrammed napkins and the little box of fishing flies as a table accessories. The cup is filled with moss (evoking seaweed perhaps?) along with mussel shells and faux sardines.
Blue and white striped walls pick up the cobalt hues of glasses used on the table. Overhead, fish mingle with stars.

The super rustic wood table looks like a summer fishing shack but winter is ushered in with the miniature white-pine trees and cedar-bark candles.

Big, round red tables always remind me of my Mom, who used this color all year. But it’s very special under a cloud of holly, and the Fluted Star Christmas china decorated with a garland and ribbon pattern.

Sitting down at such a classic table would make me hum “Jingle Bells.”

Flora Danica and the midnight sky make such a romantic dark table setting. I would never think to use this pattern with such a dark blue but it’s stunning!

Japanese minimalism inspired the look of this huge table that also includes a series of tall modern candelabra and simple pine cones.

It’s not difficult to guess that the tea merchants created this ‘scape, since it includes teapots in more than one pattern.

Vintage tea shipping boxes and an old brass cash register remind us of the days when tea was a priceless commodity in Europe, delivered from Asia by ship.

What’s going on here? A mirrored background magnifies the effect of huge silk flower blossoms affixed to a tree trunk along a magical and slightly wild table with overturned chairs – as if someone was suddenly called away. The blossoms relate to those found on cups of a R.C. pattern aptly named Flora.

The simplicity of the pattern china seems perfectly suited to an apple – or maybe Christmas sugarplums.

(Source: Royal Copenhagen)

You might also like to see Royal Copenhagen Christmas Tables from 2010, 2009, and 2008.

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