The collector: China Collection spans coffee service to waffle sets

Collections don’t have to be large to be meaningful. For example, Bernadette Powers’ Fraunfelter china collection numbers about a dozen pieces, but each piece represents happy memories – especially the coffee set that launched it.

“In 1930, my dad gave it to my mom as an engagement present,” said Powers. “He picked it out for her. The pattern is ‘The Golden Pheasant.’ ”

Formed in Ohio, in 1923, the Fraunfelter China Co. went out of business in 1939. Most of their production was for Robeson Rochester and marketed under the trade name “Royal Rochester,” just like the pieces in Powers’ collection.

Her Art Deco electric coffee pot features a percolator basket and includes a creamer and sugar dish and a large silver tray.

“That tray held our turkey for every holiday meal,” Powers recalled. “I have memories of my mom using the coffee set for formal dinners. My mom and dad were best friends and very much in love.”

Each item is hand-painted and depicts a golden pheasant with a long tail in front of a floral background.

When Powers’ mother passed away in 1986, she inherited the coffee set, and a short time later decided to collect more pieces.

“I walked into an estate sale and saw a piece of it and said, ‘Oh, I can do this!’ ”

Many of her pieces came from Custer’s Antique and Collectors Sale.

She’s no longer sure in which order she added to the collection, but knows the waffle set came early on.

The electric waffle maker came with two syrup pitchers, a batter bowl and a ladle. And yes, it works.

“It makes great waffles,” said Powers. “When my daughter was in sixth grade we hosted a fancy brunch for her friends and used the waffle set. Her dad and her brother were the servers.”

She also found a footed serving bowl, but the largest item in the collection is a tall coffee samovar that also has its own percolator basket.

Powers was thrilled when she found a complete Golden Pheasant tea set with matching cream and sugar. The teapot has a metal tea infuser attached to the lid and features a blue handle on the lid, instead of a clear one like the coffee pots.

Because Fraunfelter was in business for such a short time, each discovery is a treasure. Powers recently came across a pie plate, but when she learned it didn’t come with its matching metal stand, she decided not to purchase it.

“I’m on the hunt for a set of demitasse cups, then I think I’m gonna be done,” she said. “I’ve never met anyone else who collected this.”