Victoria Magazine celebrates Mottahedeh in the July/August issue.
How honored we are to be featured in the summer issue of Victoria magazine with a glorious article depicting table settings with several of our most beloved patterns. Founded a century ago by antique China collectors and dealers, Rafi and Mildred Mottahedeh, Mottahedeh was formed to recreate historical designs to preserve their legacy for future generations. With a nod to July 4th, freedom and
independence, setting a table today is liberated from the rules and regulations of the past. One can now mix and match patterns creatively.
Victoria styled an “all American” place setting using pieces Mottahedeh has licensed with Colonial Williamsburg and the Historic Charleston Foundation. Not your typical red, white and blue palette, the salad plate is Imperial Blue, a design based on a Chinese export pattern that dates from around 1730, underneath, a dinner plate in the orange colorway of Sacred Bird and Butterfly, a Chinese export pattern from the 1800s, and
finally, a shaped red charger which adds a clean graphic outline. For a more formal, but not fussy, seasonal table, Victoria combined Mottahedeh’s Chinoise Blue and Golden Butterfly, two 18th
century Chinese export patterns. Both have clean white grounds with exquisite gold and blue detailing. The Chinoise Blue tureen is filled not with soup, but with a glorious array of garden flowers and serves as the perfect centerpiece for an elegant summer luncheon. Using patterns with history in a modern setting keeps them vibrant and timeless. We see an exciting group of young collectors who love using traditional pieces in unexpected ways.
