tableware

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Image features a ceramic tea service composed of a hot water pot, sugar bowl, creamer, and cup and saucer. Each simple cylindrical vessel is decorated on one side with a colorful urban scene featuring a Soviet monument or state building in Leningrad. The opposite side of each piece is decorated with a gilded image of a historical site in Leningrad. The pieces are further embellished with classically-inspired gilded ribbons and marshal trophies at the edges, spouts, and loop handles. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this service.
An Early Eva Zeisel Design
In celebration of National Design Month, October’s Object of The Week posts honor past National Design Award winners. A version of this post was published on November 13, 2012. Eva Zeisel, a major figure in twentieth-century industrial design, won the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005. Although best known for her contributions to mid-century...
Set of four, cube-shaped chrome-plated shakers with white plastic bases; the tops of two with engraved and pierced with a comet among stars, the comet's "tail" formed by three curved lines of holes; the other two shakers with engraved stars and holes forming the planet Saturn surrounded by a ring. Please scroll down to read the blog post about these objects.
Please Pass the Planet
The clean-lined geometric forms of these salt and pepper shakers show American modernism’s affinity for simplicity. During the 1930s the emergence of chromed metal, steel, and aluminum tableware coincided with the rise of modernist designs for everyday objects. These simple metal cubes were created with cost-effective manufacturing techniques, stamping and piercing, to create utilitarian and...
This image features Arctic inspired water service that includes a serving tray, water pitcher, cups, ice bowl. Reed & Barton, artistic workers in silver & gold plate. 1884.
On a Hot Summer’s Night….Icy Cold Silver
Does the frozen scenery on this Reed & Barton beverage set make you feel like the ice water is really icy?   More refreshing? Are you transported to frostier climes in faraway places? Icebergs “startle, frighten, awe; they astonish, excite, amuse, delight and fascinate”[1].   Depending on where you live, icebergs and polar bears can be as...
Image features a full-bellied cup with spiral ribbing, a simple loop handle, and a domed lid with a knob at the top in the form of an apple with leaves. The pot and lid are decorated with naturalistic looking flowers in shades of pink, red, blue, yellow and green, all on a white ground. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
A French Porcelain Cup for “English Cream”
On July 14th, France and many other nations around the world celebrated French National Day, also known as Bastille Day. The date is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, which took place in 1789, and marked a turning point in the French Revolution. These days, this national occasion is usually marked with parades,...
Image features a raised circular bowl with a wide rim supported by a center column composed of stylized curled leaves surrounding a cluster of grapes, all on a stepped circular foot. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
A Danish Design Duo
It is always surprising to read about famous designers or manufacturers who were hesitant about the career paths that turned them into household names. Danish silversmith Georg Jensen (1866-1935) was one such person. Initially, he had hopes of becoming a sculptor, but focused on silversmithing as this proved to be a more lucrative line of...
Image features conical polished stainless steel sugar bowl with two blue plastic C-form handles accented with red beads, and a domed lid with black plastic knob. The bowl is accompanied by a simple hemispherical spoon on thin shaft terminating in a black plastic ball. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Capturing the 1980s With Sleek Design and Whimsy
This stainless steel sugar bowl designed by architect Michael Graves for Italian metalwork manufacturer Alessi S.p.A. is part of a line of kitchen and table wares that have found their way into homes around the world. Graves’s model 9093 whistling kettle of 1985 was the initial object in the range. The conical shape–with its polished...
Image features a red plastic break-away tray, cup, spoon, knife, and fork molded as a single unit. The red tray-utensil combination is stacked on three green ones. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Fleeting Utility
Writing about an object designed for al fresco dining could not be a better way to tempt the weather gods to bring on the return of spring. This object of the day is ‘Plack’, a picnic tray designed by Jean-Pierre Vitrac, and produced by Diam in 1977. In contrast to indifferently designed plastic picnic ware...
Image features a square ceramic tile with the large image of a fly seen from above, rendered in back and green glazes on a white ground. Please scroll down to read the blog about this object.
Pretty Fly for a Tea Tile
Author: Victoria Jenssen I grew up with Carol Janeway’s animal-themed tiles in my parents’ home, but only since my parents’ death at the turn of this century did I start researching Janeway’s career. My family’s amusing tiles were leftovers from my father’s career of the post-war 1940s when he crafted Janeway-designed hardwood frames for her...
This image features a circular sample plate glazed with squares of various colors around the rim, surrounding the logo of a running buffalo in gold, all on a white background. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
What Color Is Your Buffalo?
Sample plates are produced by manufacturers of ceramic tableware as a means of demonstrating the colors with which items, usually in a particular product line, could be glazed. Sample plates provide insight into the colors—and, in some cases, decorative patterns—that were available and popular at particular moments in time. The Cooper Hewitt collection includes several...