In calculated contrast, sharp black wedges streak mathematically across a white ground. The black and white stripes that line Eugen Trost’s Zebra cup and saucer accentuate its tapered, circular form just as cleanly as they denote the wild zebra, from which it takes its name. These stripes, however, are hand painted. The Gefle Porcelinsfabrik in...

This is a design for an ewer by the Parisian architect, designer, decorator and print maker, Jean-Charles Delafosse (1734-91). Delafosse engaged in diverse artistic productions producing urban planning proposals, architectural plans, furniture designs as well as drawings of ruin capriccios and allegorical and ornamental prints. His designs were widely circulated across France, England, and Germany...

Eighteenth-century meal services were elaborate affairs, as exemplified in this print showing tureens and a table center piece designed by Juste-Aurèle Meissonnier for Evelyn Pierrepont, Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull in the 1730s. Meissonnier worked for Louis XV, becoming  orfèvre du roi (goldsmith to the king) in 1724. This engraving is plate 115 in folio 72 of...

Watch designer Ted Muehling and curator Sarah Coffin as they discuss highlights from the exhibition, "Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection" in this 5 minute gallery walkthrough.

Thomas Geisler will speak about contemporary design work in Austria, including Viennese tableware, 20th century and contemporary design. Thomas is design curator at the Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Arts (MAK) in Vienna and co-founder of Vienna Design Week which has initiated projects with contemporary designers and local traditional manufactures such as J.&L. Lobmeyr...

Water carafes decorated with the outlines of Austrian lakes, rivers and glaciers, designed by Mark Braun for Lobmeyer. Exhibited at Vienna Design Week 2010. Tonight at the Cooper-Hewitt, Thomas Geisler will speak about contemporary design work in Austria, including Viennese tableware, 20th century and contemporary design. Thomas is design curator at the Museum of Applied...

Annette Ahrens will give an overview and the historic lineage of Viennese tableware designs, production and design influences from 1850 to the present day. The talk will focus on the relationship of the Lobmeyr designs to design in Austria and Bohemia-Chekia and of the relationship of Czech production to Lobmeyr in both 19th and 20th...

Just in time for the marathon eating season to begin, Cooper-Hewitt’s exhibition Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table is open at the Winterthur, a fantastic museum of decorative arts located in Delaware’s Brandywine Valley. The Winterthur is a curator’s dream destination, with its astonishing collection of historic objects and its richly stocked...