Interview International Museum of Dinnerware Design
Museum quality
design
The International Museum of Dinnerware Design is a treasure trove of classical dinnerware pieces mixed with fascinating memorabilia. With a focus on Art Deco and Mid Century Modern – think Eva Zeisel, Russel and Mary Wright, Don Schreckengost, and more, museum director and curator Margaret Carney, Ph.D. tells Tableware International about the founding of the museum and explains how it curates its collections… In the late 1990s, I was founding director and curator of the ceramics museum at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Before I left that position, I curated two final exhibitions about dinnerware. One focused on the designs of Eva Zeisel that Hall China manufactured in the 1950s, Tomorrow’s Classic and Century lines. We retrieved her original plaster molds from Hall China in East Liverpool, Ohio, and exhibited the molds with the final product. The other exhibition focused on Glidden Pottery, manufactured in Alfred, New York from 1940-1958. The designs were diverse, though all were very Mid-Century Modern, stoneware, and decorations were hand-painted. The designers include Glidden Parker, Fong 62 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL
Chow, Sergio dello Strologo, and others. Some of the dinnerware received “Good Design” awards from the Museum of Modern Art. The enthusiasm of the collectors was contagious. I realized that after working in various types of
eats/dines, but generally dinnerware was relegated to hidden niches or storage areas in museums, if it wasn’t the feature. I thought there should be a museum that celebrates dining and the dishes, glassware,
“We yearned to be more visible and share our collections, celebrate the designers and makers, and be a vibrant part of regional tourism” museums for multiple decades that all museums owned and displayed dinnerware, but no museums celebrated dining and the good design aspects of the dinnerware on a daily basis, as well as featuring the leading designers for industry and contemporary artists. Everyone
flatware, and related materials (textiles, centerpieces, and on and on). So, in 2012, I established the Dinnerware Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The name was changed a few years later to reflect our interest in “good design” and our international
breadth of collecting. We relocated to the Hudson Valley, specifically Kingston, New York in 2024 along with about 12,000 dining objects. We yearned to be more visible and share our collections, celebrate the designers and makers, and be a vibrant part of regional tourism. We strive to celebrate dining experiences and memories through our exhibitions, programming, and research library.
“The focus is on design whether the work is multiples or one-offs. We are less interested in grandma’s old dishes with floral patterns” What you’ll find in the museum… We collect well-designed dining objects including tableware (dishes, glassware, flatware), for