55th Annual Delaware Show

section, a silver sea turtle tureen swims serenely near a dish that looks like a bucket of codfish. A hen-and-chicks vessel focuses on the availability of meat from domestic animals, and dishes in the shapes of melons and cauliflower remind visitors to eat their fruit and veggies (fig. 2). After tablewares and food were in hand, hosts and hostesses still had many decisions to make before dinner guests arrived. Cookbooks offered advice on the preparation of different foods as well as instructions, sometimes with illustrations, for setting the table. In the exhibition, a dramatic display of Chinese export porcelain reproduces a banquet plan from a mid-1700s cookbook. In a nearby room vignette, a table is set with seashell-pattern dinnerware once owned by a well-to-do Boston family. And why should nature be restricted to plates and dishes? From as early as the 1500s, napkins have been folded in elaborate shapes inspired by nature, whether a ruffled leaf, water lily, butterfly, or swan (figs. 3, 4). Fig. 2. Hunting, fishing, farming, and growing fruit and vegetables are all considered in this section of the show. Fig. 3. A grand table plan from The Experienced English Housekeeper (1769) is reproduced in floral-pattern Chinese export porcelain. Fig. 4. Fabulous folded napkins in the shapes of leaves, flowers, and birds highlight designs through the centuries. — 38 —

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