Splendid Settings -100 Years of Mottahedeh Design.
Wendy Kvalheim, president and owner of Mottahedeh
Our newest book is finally here. Look for it in bookstores. https://www.rizzolibookstore.com/product/splendid-settings-100-years-mottahedeh-design ; It is called Splendid Settings:100 Years of Mottahedeh Design and is published by Pointed Leaf Press creative team.
It is a walk down Memory Lane that is miles long. We look at the design of porcelain as it developed over a few centuries and conclude our story with ultra-contemporary spaces that are transformed by color and shape.
By no means are we at the end of this story. My involvement with Mottahedeh began in the 1990’s and continues today. We honor the vision of Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh who were antiquarians, product developers, dealers and collectors. They carried all this out of love for the field and love for the diverse cultures to which they were drawn.
In the first book written in 2003, From Drawing Board to Dinner Table, we talked about the beginnings with the founders, and we went on to describe the process of product development. We pointed out what to look for in fine porcelain, and acquainted readers with several of our longstanding dinnerware patterns showing you our Best of Mottahedeh’s past.
In Splendid Settings, (book #2) we focus on environments that express beauty, not only because of the objects themselves but also their composition in the settings, indoor and outdoor. We feel that it is important to tell the stories behind these designs as these are people who did this, like you and me, who contributed to our culture with creations that have stood the test of time as all great design does. We have worked with more than twenty two historic associations and museums over the years.
A big Thank You goes to the friends who lent their homes to this endeavor.
Let me say here that it is important to be yourself and to express your work from your own point of view; but with skill and a search for beauty. That is what this book is, pure and simple: our point of view.