Cooper Hewitt Explores Tableware Designs Across the Centuries

“Dining is and always was a great artistic opportunity.” The words of Frank Lloyd Wright adorn a wall of New York’s Cooper Hewitt as part of the exhibition “Tablescapes: Designs for Dining.” And the pieces on display prove the architect’s point. The show begins in the present, with a commission by 2017 National Design Award winners Joe Doucet and Mary Ping. A large table and seating unit, made from discarded food packaging, is a collaboration between Ping, founder of Slow and Steady Wins the Race, and New York-based architecture firm Bureau V. The table is set with pieces by Doucet, 3-D printed by Shapeways. Also on view is an impressive 19th-century centerpiece by sculptor Pierre-Philippe Thomire, displayed amid related objects. Rounding out the exhibition are textiles by American Marguerita Mergentime. Her colorful work is steadily gaining recognition – this is her first dedicated museum presentation in decades.

“Tablescapes: Designs for Dining” is on view until April 14, 2019 at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York.