It’s the time of year when we gather around tables large or small. The new book At the Artisan’s Table (Vendome Press) might give you some inspiration on how to set it. In the book, Jane Schulak, founder and creative director of the nonprofit Culture Lab Detroit, teams up with event producer, designer, and author David Stark with text by Kathleen Hackett and photographs by Aaron Delesie. The goal? As Schulak puts it, “connect the dots where 18th century meets 21st century.”
Schulak and Stark asked contemporary artisans — including ceramicist Roberto Lugo, plaster master Stephen Antonson, and trompe l’oeil artist Stephanie Shih — to reinterpret a historical piece of tableware, and then Stark and Schulak created table settings. The exquisite results are illustrated in 18 chapters.
Here are some of the photos from plaster artist Stephen Antonson’s chapter:
In Antonson’s studio, dinner is set on the worktable, where candelabra sculptures built from plaster molds of bread — a collaboration between the artist and David Stark Studios — cast a glow. The dinner plates are by Saginaw, and the glasses are by French artist Laurence Brabant.
Sèvres’s iconic Bol-sein, or “breast bowl,” designed by Jean-Jacques Lagrenée as a gift from King Louis XVI to his wife, Marie Antoinette. Courtesy of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Plaster, plaster everywhere: in the office, the table, chair, chandelier, candlesticks, and bust have all gone through the artist’s hands.
At home, a larger-than-life bust of Venus de Milo presides over Antonson’s Tawbowl set with François-Xavier Lalanne Oiseau d’Argent candlesticks, crowned by Antonson’s Shell chandelier.
In the studio, where the material is always the same but the shapes are at Antonson’s whim.
In Antonson’s studio, dinner is set on the worktable, where candelabra sculptures built from plaster molds of bread — a collaboration between the artist and David Stark Studios — cast a glow. The dinner plates are by Saginaw, and the glasses are by French artist Laurence Brabant.
Sèvres’s iconic Bol-sein, or “breast bowl,” designed by Jean-Jacques Lagrenée as a gift from King Louis XVI to his wife, Marie Antoinette. Courtesy of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Plaster, plaster everywhere: in the office, the table, chair, chandelier, candlesticks, and bust have all gone through the artist’s hands.
At home, a larger-than-life bust of Venus de Milo presides over Antonson’s Tawbowl set with François-Xavier Lalanne Oiseau d’Argent candlesticks, crowned by Antonson’s Shell chandelier.
In the studio, where the material is always the same but the shapes are at Antonson’s whim.
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