Drinking, Dining, and Developing Community: a Study of 10 Objects at NOMA

This stein, like many at the time, featured a stoneware body with a metal (pewter) lid and metal foot.

 After the advent of germ theory during the Renaissance, many drinking vessels had the addition of a lid. 

This stein thus represents scientific progress through its form, but also shows how the individual stein functions as a part of a community ceremony.

The intimate object is only meant to ever be used by two people: a husband and wife on their wedding day. 

With the tradition dating back centuries, double vases such as this are essential to the wedding ceremony. 

With each spout representing a member of the couple, the vase is filled with a special liquid and consumed by the newly-united pair.

A pair of cups such as this one could have been used to share a cup of tea while someone is in mourning.

During the Victorian era in England, much emphasis was made on the way people mourned the loss of a loved one, including wearing black dress and jewelry. 

The custom of "funeral tea" extended the communal aspect of mourning into dining rituals. Thus, these cups represent so much more than their form. They serve as an extension of long-held traditions surrounding death. 

The decorative pattern of this porcelain picnic box, known as Imari, is recognizable for the use of cobalt blue and white designs with swirling red and gold Japanese patterns.

Picnic boxes have a long tradition in the island nation of Japan. Popularized in the 15th century, they became staples of food culture.

A picnic box would have stoked conversation and served as a centerpiece for small gatherings of two or three anywhere from parks to festivals. Picnic boxes were, and still are. essential components of Japanese dining culture.

The size allows the user to hold the vessel in the palm of their hand, with the cup serving as a close extension of their body. 

The glass technique for making these vessels, known as Millefiori, translates to “thousand flowers,” and that's precisely what they look like. Dating to 100 BCE, they represent the high level of craft in the Roman Empire.

A polytheistic society, the Romans worshiped various gods and goddesses. Part of that worship involved the serving and drinking of sacred wine in patella cups like these.

Ceramic vessels of this form were common among pre-15th century cultures in South America. This vessel, dating to as early as 900 CE, has two containers in one.

Integral to the design of these vessels were the conversations that it could create. The carved face on one side of the container is indicative of similar forms in artwork of the region. 

It could introduce questions and discourse about one’s own culture, with the designs evolving each generation. Pieces such as this one, used by an entire family, became symbolic of indigenous histories.

One common way for families to spend time together in the 20th century was eating a newly popularized dish called the casserole for dinner, thus reinforcing the nuclear family as the American norm.

Popularized in around the 1870s, the casserole has become a staple of American cuisine. Just as important as the food is the container it is served in. Earthenware was the most common for casseroles due to its low cost and high durability allowing more families to purchase.

This specific casserole dish was made by the Hall China Company in East Liverpool, Ohio. With new earthenware technology and the rise of canned convenience food, a perfect recipe for the casserole and American family dining was created. Bright colors accentuated that spirit.

 With its relatively low cost and chic Art Deco design, many American families would use it to spice up their dining situation, whether it be family dinner or a party.

Produced by the Homer Laughlin Pottery Company, Fiesta ware became something of a status symbol for the late 1930s and pre-war 1940s middle class.

Now seen as a design commentary on American identity, its ostentatious colors and vibrancy depict American families optimistically. Having a bright piece such as this one in an otherwise muted dining setup would have brought joy to diners. 

These are examples of luxurious favrile glass, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s innovative rainbow metallic technique that mimicked the degradation of uncovered Ancient glass.

Existing as a piece of fine art and being a show piece of the Art Nouveau style, these goblets represented gentility and power. 

The forms of these goblets exemplify how expensive pieces can both be in conversation with the past while showing new styles and innovative techniques.

This double-spouted earthenware container in bright sienna clay was used to collect palm sap that would be mixed with natural yeast and bacteria to produce palm wine.

This container stored palm wine, with both the vessel and the liquid a cornerstone of ritual. It was specifically designed for this communal purpose, emphasizing the role of community and wine within this region. 

The wine would then be shared in the same container to community members, fulfilling a crucial role in hospitality and connecting people to their past, present, and future.