55th Annual Delaware Show

Dining by Design: Nature Displayed on the Dinner Table By Leslie Grigsby Awaiting visitors in the Galleries at Winterthur this fall is the exuberant and delightful exhibition Dining by Design: Nature Displayed on the Dinner Table. The show takes a fresh look at the history of dining and dinnerware from the 1600s onward, celebrating how hosts and hostesses brought the natural world into their dining rooms. The nearly six hundred ceramic and metalwork objects are drawn primarily from the Winterthur collection and are assembled in eye-catching groupings enhanced by dramatic lighting, brilliant wall colors, and innovative graphics and case designs. Dining by Design offers something for audiences of all ages and experience levels, sharing information in an approachable and light-hearted format. Guests are welcomed with an introduction to the ways some consumers purchased their dinnerware. For centuries, the famous Dutch and British East India companies controlled much of the world’s trade, including household goods such as nature- inspired dinnerware in exotic new materials and forms. As time passed and more affordable choices became available, some consumers ordered tableware or made design choices from factory pattern books. A dramatic tureen pyramid at the entrance to the show hints at the wide range of available decorative patterns (fig. 1). Nearby, a stunning display of dishes helps viewers consider some of the ways we acquire food. A tureen in the form of a boar’s head (complete with arrows!) and another shaped like a cooked goose illustrate the theme of hunting. In the fishing Fig. 1. A fanciful tureen pyramid greets visitors to the exhibition. — 37 —