Tableware

Throughout history, the table has provided a rich site for design choices. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, drawings and prints of tableware by artists transmitted design concepts for a variety of media. Physical samples provided a more precise and exacting layer of product information. Ceramic materials in particular were best understood through samples due to the many variations of clay types, coloring materials, and patterning techniques that were difficult to convey and standardize without a tangible example. Beginning in the eighteenth century, salesmen traveling with crockery samples increased product awareness and demand. Sample plates were also utilized in production factories as references to maintain quality control and for product promotion.