Edition #1: Crustacean Tableware
The bugs of the sea can actually be quite pleasing to the eye.
Italian Hand Painted Seafood Plate Platter on eBay: Starting off strong (I promise they get weirder/better/worse). Is this not the perfect platter for any kind of cold seafood dish? Pile on ice and nestle some oysters. Fan out some cold, butter-poached shrimp. Tuna tartar!
Scalloped Art Ceramic Seafood Shrimp Bowl on eBay: I'm a sucker for a scallop shell. They're just so cool looking when done right in decor. This bowl is hand-painted and you can get a set of three if you want to stock up, but there are plenty to go around eBay and Etsy for varying prices.
1950s Lobster Ware Divided Dish by Brad Keeler on eBay: Lettuce was a theme in my search. Does this disembodied claw version feel vaguely like a threat to anyone else? I'm into it either way.
Shrimp Foot 9" Green Bowl on eBay: This one kind of gives me the creeps. I think it's because no matter what cabbage will always look like a brain. The way the shrimp disappear into the bottom of the bowl is...unsettling, so maybe don't flip it over.
Lobster Serving Dish on eBay: Just the level of gaudy to make this my favorite of the bunch. The gold accents really make this feel like something my Italian great aunt Millie would've gifted me for my wedding. We're still digging through her costume jewelry 10 years post-mortem.
Italian Pottery Seafood Butter Or Lemon Plate on Etsy: I want to hang this on my wall but I guess you can do whatever you want with it. The small size also makes it a really great housewarming gift!
Vintage Ceramic Amazing Crab Shaped Dish/Butter Dish on Etsy: After finding this cursed leg-less crab (the eyes really get you) whose head opens, my very smart husband pointed out that it's probably for butter and you place the cooked legs around it. Now that's a way to serve crab. I love the '40s.
Seafood Serving Platter Handpainted With Lobster, Mussels And Clams on Etsy: I know that we've covered this design above, but the 3-D shrimp draped like a dog trying to get off a couch is the star. Why does it make me want to pet it?
1920s Royal Bayreuth Lobster Serving Bowl on Etsy: No comment.
Very Large and Unusual Sectional Seafood Themed Platter on Etsy: A splurge, but a total showstopper at any dinner party. The squid is my favorite part.
Honorable Mentions:
What terms were searched:
Lobster platter
Shrimp bowl
Crustacean plate
Seafood dish
Welcome to Finder’s Keepers
This is the newsletter dedicated to leaving no vintage stone unturned. Each edition will cater to a rabbit hole that I fell down one night and include an assortment of vintage finds that make you question “Why did anyone own this?” followed quickly by “Should I own this?”
My method is simple: I attach a keyword or phrase to the item and go digging, spending hours each week combing through hundreds of pages of Etsy and Ebay bric-a-brac. It’s chaotic but satisfactory, like looking through every rack and bin at a thrift store for those that partake in the more visceral act of going in person. I like to sit on my couch.