This is the year of richly crafted clothes, with fabrics radiating lush tones and motifs and garments reflecting a combination of innocence and grandeur. But the elements of style that dominate the way we dress are applied not only to apparel.
“It may not be as intensely fashionable as ready-to-wear, but china definitely reflects our times and trends,” says Carol Whitehouse, general manager at Richard Ginori, an Italian porcelain company that began manufacturing its wares in 1735, and a 22-year veteran of the industry. “And at the moment,” adds Whitehouse, “the dishes we choose for our tables also mirror our mood.”
“Right now, big, bold and beautiful is prevalent in the industry because people need cheering up,” Whitehouse says. Many of the vibrant and visually exciting new offerings in stores support her comments. Themes that range from fantasy and travel to ecology and conservation have surfaced on a wide range of fine porcelains and earthenware produced by some of the most acclaimed names in the industry.
Cityscapes, which are both “time capsules for different eras and pathways to different places,” notes Marie Stock, market editor for Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine, “have taken on a new prominence in bold, pictorial patterns offered by Bernardaud, Hutschenreuther, Ginori and Villeroy & Boch.” Some of the most famous sites in the world, or simply stunning architectural renderings, are lustrously emblazoned on the plates these companies are producing.
Fantasy place settings, to help us escape the strains of everyday life, as noted by Whitehouse, or “to make us feel that there will be a bright new world some day,” as Marsha Everton, vice president of marketing for Pfaltzgraff, suggests, are also in evidence. The offerings in this arena-where Rosenthal commissioned Gianni Versace to create fanciful and exotic styles for their line that seem to be straight out of “Aladdin” or “Arabian Nights” and Pfaltzgraff pioneered uncharted territory with a line of Star Trek bone china-relate directly to icons of popular culture.
Environmental concerns, an important issue to many these days, are also depicted on plates, as both Whitehouse and Stock point out. Many patterns prominently picture exotic flora and fauna rendered in all sorts of artistic and aesthetic styles. This ecological orientation has also spilled over to a profusion of patterns adorned with more prosaic fruits, flowers and vegetables-which is “not surprising,” Everton says, “since gardening has become the No. 1 leisure-time activity in the U.S. right now.”
But Gien’s Savane, which features an animal skin motif (similar to those that have graced our garments for the past several years) that borders vivid portraits of endangered species in their natural habitats, best epitomizes the environmental trend. The vibrantly executed and visually intriguing pattern also substantiates Whitehouse’s assessment that the designs of our serving pieces are only slightly behind those of our fashion ensembles.
The decorations on our best dishes, however, are much more than a simple fashion statement and reveal much more about our culture than just our mood of the moment. “Porcelain has always reflected the interests of society,” says Ian Wardropper, curator of European Decorative Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago.
In the late 18th Century, when naturalists started producing engravings that were more precise and scientific than before, the same kind of renderings were used on porcelain and china, Wardropper notes. “And in the 19th Century, there was a great love of travel that was reflected in whole classes of china that have what today we might call picture-postcard images,” he says.
An exhibition Wardropper curated that closed Nov. 1 at the Art Institute, titled “News from a Radiant Future: Soviet Porcelain from the Collection of Craig H. and Kay A. Tuber,” showcased some prime examples of this premise that were produced by the Bolsheviks from 1918 to 1925. The designs, which included such odd amalgamations of elements as hammers and sickles with flowers, were sometimes startling, but they were always germane to the political and cultural concerns of the Soviet regime.
Today’s offerings are not quite as socially and politically overt, but they still contain important, and poignant, messages that draw attention to issues that concern us today.
Swid Powell’s AIDS pattern, which features a chillingly severe and obviously oversized pristine white plate, undefiled by all embellishment save for a blood-red ribbon, is one such example. The plate is bold and commanding in every aspect of its execution and draws attention with dignity to the disease. Furthermore, the company is also donating all profits from the sale of the pattern to DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation for AIDS).
Current endeavors to engender and promote ethnic diversity are also clearly reflected in the today’s dinnerware offerings. Many patterns draw their designs from the motifs of a variety of cultures, most notably those of African, Indian, Native American and Middle Eastern origins, and clearly echo attempts to promote positive intergroup relations.
Aside from the designs on our plates, the size of our service also reflect our times. “Today’s five-piece place setting is a completely contemporary invention,” says Carl L. Crossman, art historian and author of “The Decorative Arts of the China Trade” (Antique Collectors’ Club, $89.50).
“Dinner services were always made to accommodate the meals that were served on them, and in the 18th and early 19th Centuries there were separate sets for dinner, dessert and tea,” he says, adding that “the dinner service usually included at least 14 matching platters and covered tureens for soups, vegetables and sauces.” These were formal times, Crossman says, “and since the shapes of the pieces were specific to what they were used for, they told us what was going on in that era.”
With Crossman’s words in mind, perhaps we should look beyond our five-piece place settings of today and try to get a climpse of the future by taking our cues from Pfaltzgraff’s three-piece ensemble created for the new Star Trek series “Deep Space Nine.” The three pieces are a plate and a saucer, both triangular in shape to symbolize the three different races represented in the show, and a cup that recalls the ancient shape originated by the Chinese and has no handles, to accommodate extraterrestrials whose “hands” may differ from those of earthlings.
Resources:
Atrium by Hutschenreuther ($120) at Marshall Field’s (in December); Le Voyage de Marco Polo ($295) at Field’s or Bloomingdale’s; Borghese by Bernardaud ($195) at Field’s; Africaine by Rosenthal ($135) at Field’s, Bloomingdale’s; Savane by Gien ($152.50) at Field’s, Bloomingdale’s; Leopard Lazuli by Lynn Chase Ltd. ($135) at Field’s; Clio by Wedgwood ($120) at Field’s; Intarsia by Villeroy & Boch ($215) at Field’s and Bloomingdale’s; Marquetry by Pfaltzgraff ($137) at Field’s; Les Metroples by Bernardaud ($99 for the dinner plate) at Field’s; Acquarelli by Richard Ginori ($190) at Field’s; Feuilles de Chene by Gien ($142.50) at Field’s, Bloomingdale’s; Star Trek (plate $50) and Deep Space Nine buffet set ($130) both by Pfaltzgraff at Field’s; Red Ribbon by Swid Powell (mug $10, buffet plate $35) at Field’s. All prices are for five-piece place settings unless otherwise noted.
