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Dish: 813 Colorful, Wonderful Dinner Plates
A globe-trotting, century-hopping celebration of dishes
As every great hostess knows, the right dinner plates bring design, color, and drama to the table and elevate an ordinary meal into something special. Dish is a visual celebration of these everyday pieces of art that have been the objects of desire of kings, queens, brides, chefs, and hostesses for centuries.From the first wooden trenchers of the Middle Ages to the seventeenth-century China trade, from twentieth-century designer wares to the colorful melamine plates so widely available today, more than 800 plates are on display here. With insightful descriptions and an expert’s knowledge, author Shax Riegler makes the case that the dinner plate is so much more than just a vessel to deliver food; it’s a piece of art to be admired.These are plates created by storied masters such as Spode and Wedgwood, modernists like Russel Wright and Homer Laughlin, and even today’s contemporary designers like Vera Wang and Diane von Furstenberg. Dish shows them in full color with large photographs, detail shots, and even back-of-the-plate photos, delivering a feast for the eyes for obsessive fans and casual admirers alike.With a timeline of plate highlights in history, sidebars showcasing the most popular designers, and a list of the top 100 patterns of all time, Dish will leave readers looking at the common dinner plate in a whole new way.
As every great hostess knows, the right dinner plates bring design, color, and drama to the table and elevate an ordinary meal into something special. Dish is a visual celebration of these everyday pieces of art that have been the objects of desire of kings, queens, brides, chefs, and hostesses for centuries.From the first wooden trenchers of the Middle Ages to the seventeenth-century China trade, from twentieth-century designer wares to the colorful melamine plates so widely available today, more than 800 plates are on display here. With insightful descriptions and an expert’s knowledge, author Shax Riegler makes the case that the dinner plate is so much more than just a vessel to deliver food; it’s a piece of art to be admired.These are plates created by storied masters such as Spode and Wedgwood, modernists like Russel Wright and Homer Laughlin, and even today’s contemporary designers like Vera Wang and Diane von Furstenberg. Dish shows them in full color with large photographs, detail shots, and even back-of-the-plate photos, delivering a feast for the eyes for obsessive fans and casual admirers alike.With a timeline of plate highlights in history, sidebars showcasing the most popular designers, and a list of the top 100 patterns of all time, Dish will leave readers looking at the common dinner plate in a whole new way.
- GenresNonfictionArt
304 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 10, 2021
As someone who has a tattoo of corelle on her arm, I'm just so glad to know this book exists. Now I can tell my family, see I'm not alone.
September 27, 2013
I walked into the library and saw this book sitting on a display shelf. Like a moth to a flame I was pulled straight to it. I opened the cover and saw this cautionary language:
"Warning: This book may induce dish mania."
To someone already suffering from dish mania (it's obviously a genetic disorder that I inherited from my mother) this is putting a warning label on crack. I MUST-MUST-MUST check out this book and keep it until the last possble second!
After bringing the book home I learned that in the late 1600s certain collectors were labeled as having the maladie de porcelaine or porcelain sickness. (Thank heavens for Obamacare so my insurance company can't deny me for a pre-existing condition!)
I also learned that the in 2005 the New York Times defined a Dish Queen as "a perons belonging to a rarefied and sometimes loopy group" who is hooked on buying dishes. Where is my dish queen tiara?!!! But "loopy"? OK maybe I am loopy but this is an illness people! Cut me some slack!
As long as the St. Louis City Public Library would let me have it, I slobbered over every gorgeous page of this book.
If you want to avoid being labeled loopy - skip this book. If you already loopy - this is a must!
"Warning: This book may induce dish mania."
To someone already suffering from dish mania (it's obviously a genetic disorder that I inherited from my mother) this is putting a warning label on crack. I MUST-MUST-MUST check out this book and keep it until the last possble second!
After bringing the book home I learned that in the late 1600s certain collectors were labeled as having the maladie de porcelaine or porcelain sickness. (Thank heavens for Obamacare so my insurance company can't deny me for a pre-existing condition!)
I also learned that the in 2005 the New York Times defined a Dish Queen as "a perons belonging to a rarefied and sometimes loopy group" who is hooked on buying dishes. Where is my dish queen tiara?!!! But "loopy"? OK maybe I am loopy but this is an illness people! Cut me some slack!
As long as the St. Louis City Public Library would let me have it, I slobbered over every gorgeous page of this book.
If you want to avoid being labeled loopy - skip this book. If you already loopy - this is a must!
July 4, 2015
I don't think I'll ever be done reading this book. What a great compilation of the history of dinner plates. And what a great reference book on plates, for anyone who would like to begin collecting. Here you have such a variety of plates all in one place, it's so nice to be able to flip the pages from one to another and back again.
Looking through this book is no different than looking through an art book. I loved finding my favorite plate artists (Clarice Cliff, Russel Wright, and most of all, Wedgewood for his creamware/Queen's Ware).
This book is large and yet, in spite of that, there's probably enough dinnerware in the world to warrant another edition, with even more photos of dinner plates. Most of the plates in here are truly works of art. And just as with art that hangs in a museum, these plates will vary in their appeal to different people. But there seems to be enough here to satisfy everyone's taste.
Looking through this book is no different than looking through an art book. I loved finding my favorite plate artists (Clarice Cliff, Russel Wright, and most of all, Wedgewood for his creamware/Queen's Ware).
This book is large and yet, in spite of that, there's probably enough dinnerware in the world to warrant another edition, with even more photos of dinner plates. Most of the plates in here are truly works of art. And just as with art that hangs in a museum, these plates will vary in their appeal to different people. But there seems to be enough here to satisfy everyone's taste.
March 20, 2012
Definitely recommended for ceramics nerds (I'm looking at you Meagan Nishi!). I am glad I have this book for 3 more weeks because I'm going to get a new pad of tracing paper and really go to town. There are so many beautiful plates! And so many amazing ways to think about form, function, and decoration. I expected lots of pictures with minimal discussion, but each image has extensive information about provenance, materials, and techniques used. There is also good (thank goodness not exhaustive) background on the varied and exciting history of dinnerware.
March 12, 2012
Simply have to love a book that poses the question "Was George Washington a dish queen?" and then gives a listing of all the wonderful plates that the Father of the Nation owned (although, to be fair, a number were ordered by Martha). Lots of other plate trivia for those who swoon at the sight of shiny porcelain.
April 7, 2012
Beautiful pictures, interesting information. Delicious!
June 25, 2012
This is my picture book for dreaming. I love dishes and plates and this book led me through the history of china to modern plateware. It satisfies my visual appetite for table decor.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews