Yes, our sandwich trays are not historic, but the story of the Sandwich is.  The sandwich has come a long way from a hunk of beef and cheese between bread.

“The sandwich, as we know it, was popularized in England in 1762 by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. Legend has it, and most food historians agree, that Montagu had a substantial gambling problem that led him to spend hours on end at the card table. During a particularly long binge, he asked the house cook to bring him something he could eat without getting up from his seat, and the sandwich was born. Montagu enjoyed his meat and bread so much that he ate it constantly, and as the concoction grew popular in London society circles it also took on the Earl’s name,” states Stephanie Butler for the History Channel.

Looking at this hoagie in the picture, we agree that sandwiches have taken on new life and deserve to be showcased on this tray. But don't forget the empanada, the croissant, pork buns, Stromboli, quesadilla, and the mother of sandwiches, the PB & J. on White (Peanut Butter and Jelly?). But, just to be fair, we must consider the whole range of sweets that could go on this tray and call it a Dessert Tray.  Petit fours (what's that?), brownies, mille feuilles, tartlets, cookies, cupcakes, baklava, shortbread…. Ooh, now we are getting really hungry.  Time to pause for a little snack.  Would you like to have something named for you?  We hope it is something you would be glad to be known for.

The Evolution of a Design.

Speaking of new life, Mottahedeh’s Lace pattern is ever-expanding and popular because it is a deceptively simple design that is actually quite complex.  It all started when Imperial Blue, a reproduction dinner pattern, was introduced in the early 1990’s.  While Lace reads as a solid, it is really a series of lines- a lattice pattern-overlaid on the white of the porcelain.  The printed color is very deep, but the white background of the plate make it appear optically 50% lighter. The effect is soft.

The lacey all-over band in the middle of the plate was pulled out, simplified, and arranged as the border of our first new introduction, the Lace Service Plates.  These were offered in Red, Blue and Green, and we added the five piece place setting in Cobalt.  Immediately, the sales of Imperial Blue shot up. People responded well to combining designs with more contemporary styling.

Blue Lace became a mix and match alternative for effusive Imperial Blue,

as well as a myriad of other well-loved designs.

From there we introduced service plates in more colors with the same linework design. The Line extension resulted in ten different colorways and endless ways of combining patterns and color on the table.

Our Mottahedeh fans were finding so many inventive ways of using these colors in combination with patterns from Mottahedeh, as well as other porcelain companies, that we decided to make the five piece place settings in a variety of colors beyond cobalt blue.

Cornflower Lace

Pink Lace

The perfect frame for your food. Butterfly Lace

But who can resist the vibrant colors and delicate gold painting of this tray? We saved the best for last.

Feature: Colonial Williamsburg Museum and Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia

But how do we make products for today?  No skimping on style, vibrancy of color and everything with a story.  Then there is authenticity.  Williamsburg’s tagline is “Trend Meets Tradition”. Williamsburg presents so many beautiful products for the home derived from their outstanding museum collections. Mottahedeh is a leader in exact reproductions, as well as adaptations for today.

Chelsea Bird with Lexington Empire Green and Daphne Atoll

Expressing living history at Colonial Williamsburg

Colonial Williamsburg is a living history village. It was created to preserve and present Colonial American lifestyle and buildings. Tourism in Virginia is shared with Jamestown and Yorktown. Williamsburg is one of the largest historical preservation projects in the country with close to 70,000 visitors per year since its creation in the 1920s. As showcase of early American culture, Williamsburg has been the backdrop for international conferences by U.S. presidents hosting prominent world figures.

The historic district of Williamsburg, Virginia, encompassing 301 acres, the site is populated by many authentic buildings, dating back to the 1700s and earlier. New repro buildings have been added to provide a balanced and realistic glimpse into early American life.  Guests can see period clothing, acting, demonstrations, taverns serving typical colonial food, gift shops, performances, and festivals. All this adds to and air of authenticity and a village-style atmosphere.

There is even resident Thomas Jefferson, an actor who personifies his personality and his involvement with original Williamsburg at the time of America’s independence.  It is, in short, a living community, completely interesting and lots of fun.

Duke of Gloucester with Chelsea Feather & Lexington Caramel

The Mottahedeh’s connection with Colonial Williamsburg runs deep.

During the late 1970s Mildred Mottahedeh worked closely with former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller to develop and commercialize reproductions of antique world art. In truth, they were buddies. Both had world renowned collections of fine 18^th century Chinese export porcelains, of the type widely sought after in the British Colonies. Cementing their relationship was shared vision of entrepreneurship as a way of assisting developing countries become more self-reliant through industry. But this association did not include Colonial Williamsburg at the time.

Nelson Rockefeller’s mother, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, had a passion for art and antiques and was one of the creators of Williamsburg Museum and the Williamsburg experience herself. She is also credited to be one of the founders of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

How it Started

In the mid-1920s, Abby and her husband were contacted by Reverend Dr. Goodwin, who was rector of Bruton Parish Church and an instructor at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. After seeing Dr. Goodwin's restored church, they explored further his concept of a massive restoration of the city to its authentic days prior to the American Revolution, as Williamsburg was the capital of the capital of the Virginia Colony. They became committed to funding the project, which started in 1927.

Virginia Blue with Lexington Azure and Lavande

The result was Colonial Williamsburg; a living history museum which has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. One of the museums within the complex, the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum, is named in her honor.

One person can have an impact and a contribution to the General good.

Mottahedeh’s licensing relationship began in 1989, a decade after Mildred and Nelson’s association ended.

During its nearly century-long existence Colonial Williamsburg has been supported by host of philanthropists and foundations. Prominent among them are the Rockefeller family, the Daughters of the Confederacy, Reservation Virginia, and the local Chamber of Commerce.

Imperial Blue with Azure and Villa Toscana

• Shopping is a novel experience at Colonial Williamsburg.

Here are the companies making unique products for them. All are excellent.

• Carvers’ Guild – fine mirrors
• Caskata Artisanal Home – dinnerware and giftware
• Caspari – paper tabletop, gift wrap, and stationery
• Entryways – handmade coconut fiber doormats
• Focal Point – crown moldings kits
• Friedman Brothers – fine mirrors
• Global Views – furniture and home décor
• Michaelian Home – needlepoint and hooked pillows, kitchen towels, and rag rugs
• Mottahedeh – fine china dinnerware and giftware
• Owen Suter – Reproduction Furniture
• Park Designs – tabletop, table linens, décor, and giftware
• Port 68 – lighting and decorative accessories
• Robert Abbey – floor and table lamps, pendant lighting, and lighting fixtures
• Royal Heritage Home – comforters and matelassé bedding
• Spicher and Company – vinyl floor coverings
• The Magnolia Company – dried wreaths, swags, and garland
• Windham Fabrics – quilt fabric collections
• World Art Group – printed wall art

We hope you get the chance to peruse so many wonderful products available, all with special provenance.

Delve into the origins of our country and learn about the arduous journey in the founding of America where the vision of opportunity and freedom for all is its foundation.  Unity is the light that will illuminate the whole world.

But some new thinking has arrived recently, as people, especially young ones, are taking another look.
And they are thinking more deeply about their dinner interactions. This may have been launched by the Pandemic as people have been dining-in and realizing that newest stuff they have may be boring. Pre- Pandemic, they were just going out to eat. This new appreciation for Vintage may also be stimulated by social media where Tabletop and Interior Design is bursting out for us to look at, giving us so many great looking ideas.

Minimalist table setting was the fashion for several years. It is no longer Tabula Rasa at the Table, so bring in all kinds of elements. Create a dining experience. Not only is creativity in the home going up, but in the kitchen as well.

OLD

• Sometimes small in scale
• Shapely and complex
• Delicately hand painted
• Many types of serving pieces
• Multicolor decorations
• Formal matching pieces to same patter
• Hand washing required
• Expensive if high quality

New

Larger in size and large individual bowls
Flat plates
Limited number of accessory pieces.
Little or no hand painting
Decoration four to eight colors
Dishwasher and microwave friendly
Inexpensive, if you break it, just get more.

In olden times ( how old?, you ask) often the bride chose the dinner pattern and it was common for all plates within the pattern style to match. The table was set in a formal way, with all people attending having matching tableware. Hand washing also brought with it reluctance to get out the good china, thus only for holidays and partiesl

Today’s marriage partners often choose the pattern together and may choose styles from three different companies to create a mix and match style all their own. Thus dinner plate may be completely different from the dessert plates. It can be elegant, but it doesn’t have to be expensive and so see what you can find while you are on the hunt with a relative or a yard sale.

We have to say we are very happy about this trend, and here is our two cents. The handwashing is sometimes a challenge and anything with a metal such as platinum or gold will not go in the microwave. If you try it, you will create fireworks at home.
Historic ceramics will not hold up to dishwasher washing, but Mottahedeh antique reproductions will . You will be able to put designs such as Tobacco Leaf that has a high amount of gold, in the dishwasher repeatedly. Often people don’t believe us when we say this, but Mottahedeh hard porcelain and stoneware can be washed in the dishwasher and heated in the oven up to warm plate on a regular basis without ill effects. It is a good idea to turn off the high heat of your dishwashing cycle or even the turn the drying cycle off completely. But don’t put faience in the dishwasher; it is too soft.

So we suggest you take Grandma’s china if she offers it, especially if it is Mottahedeh that has been around for more than 90 years. In many cases it is already Vintage coming up on an Antique. There is something happening that we call Casual Opulence. That is appreciating and using beautiful things in a casual style. Stack your plates on the buffet table and let each arrangement be beautiful to look at.

Steve McKenzies getting ready for a party

Mix your old with your new!
We started mixing up our plate collection to give you some ideas.

This includes Mottahedeh and Robert Haviland and C. Parlon

Time as experienced in the aging of Trees

I have been thinking quite a bit about Time recently. 

Not just about how it seems fleeting as a person ages, but how all generations are on this timeline and their view of the world is shaped by their interaction with it.  For instance sometimes I wish I was born a few years later to be at the forefront of the digital age and so that there would be the option of learning more about digital graphics; a field that didn’t exist much before the year 2000. It is possible to learn it, but not with such ease.  My children could not imagine a world without their digital devices, a world that gives people real-time access to others in seconds.  

Pop Art Ketchup by KK Designs  www.kkdesignslondon.com.  vs.   Hall Phone 1970’s

You get a call from your son who is standing in the condiment aisle at the supermarket and he wants to know what brand of ketchup to pick up.  It is a 15 second call, but you are connected.

When we went to college, there was one phone in the hallway for all people on that floor and calls home were few and far between. Note the rotary dial and the cord.  Plus, there was letter writing…with a pen.

Calligraphic Leaping Reindeer Williamsburg

I would imagine that our mothers might have felt the same way about their lives.  They were called up to great service and accomplishment in World War II, but when the war ended, they were sent home.  They didn’t have the opportunities for development in fields of endeavor that they saw their daughters later enjoy. Within a short time that has changed.  And at other times, when I think about it, I am grateful to have seen the early days of the invention of T.V. (Remember the rabbit ears to get better reception.)  and experiencing everything in between until now where people are vying to be the first consumer passenger into space.

Expanding in Opportunity and Contracting through Access

The World as we know it is expanding in opportunity and contracting through access into one planet’s people, both at the same time. No wonder it feels convulsive. 

   Earth animated Rob Almeida 

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Still, many parts of the world are dislocated from this technology phenomenon, not having access to this digital age. The world has been and is going through some tough times as every part of the world is rocked by the Covid 19 pandemic. All are affected.  I think of it as a period of hibernation.  We have gone to sleep shuttered in our houses as all nations are scrambling to overcome this.  

  Sculpture by Cyril Henry  of the Onondaga Nation Deer Clan.

_____________________________________________________________________

On a positive note, it has given us pause to reflect.  We have looked in the faces of those closest to us.  We are one planet and one people, all with the same joys and fears. We are dependent on each other. In this age, one individual can have a huge impact on multitudes, either positive or destructive.

African pottery vessel, the Newark  Museum Collection

Bhutanese Hand Woven Textiles

The only way to become safe is for each of us to  learn that we are not defined by the color of our skin or our ethnicity, but the qualities of our character, such as patience, truthfulness, courage, kindness, fairness,  thirst for knowledge and the overarching idea that we want to be of service to others.  It requires that we develop the culture of appreciation of our differences, beyond tolerance to love; to appreciate all cultures and what they have contributed. We cannot get there by denigrating others. We need to sit at the same table and interact with people within our circle of interest and outside our comfort zone.

Princesses Wear Dresses

Along this line, my daughters wrote a book for children available in multiple languages that presents this idea of focusing on character and diversity.   It is not a money-making venture, but a Kick Starter that they launched successfully, spurred by the conviction that it is important to instill these ideals of inclusiveness in our children, to teach them in practical ways to reflect qualities of goodness and principle.  We teach them so many things like numbers and letters; why not the basics of character development, though many people already do.

 https://www.facebook.com/PrincessesWearDresses

We at Mottahedeh love lobsters, if you follow us on Instagram, @mottahedehchina  and Facebook you know how much and we enjoy lobster on all different Mottahedeh products. We would like to share a few of our favorites here plus some fun lobster facts.

A lobster and drawn butter served in Mottahedeh Milestone LEAF artisanal stoneware.

In the colonial era, only the poor, indentured servants, and prisoners ate lobsters because they were cheap, too plentiful, and considered tasteless. After prisoners in one Massachusetts town got sick of eating them all the time, a new rule said they only had to eat them three times a week.

Lobsters are not red. They turn red when cooked, but in nature they can be green or yellow or even bright blue.

This steamed lobster is shown on Mottahedeh’s Emmaline blue and white floral pattern platter.

Lobster fishermen throw back lobsters that are too small and lobsters that are too big. The small ones need to grow, while the large ones add vigor to the gene pool.

Lobsters can swim forward and backward. When they are alarmed, they scoot away in reverse by rapidly curling and uncurling their tails.

A feast of lobsters served with corn, drawn butter and lemons in Mottahedeh’s Blue and White Monteith Bowl.

Maine lobsters are clawed lobsters, and have large, meaty claws.

Spiny Caribbean lobsters have no claws and are sold mainly for their tails.

Lobsters can grow up to four feet long and weigh as much as 40 pounds.

It is believed that lobsters can live as long as 100 years.

Twin Lobsters served on the Tony Duquette Collection for Mottahedeh Barriera Corallina platter in gold.

Lobsters have a crusher claw and a pincer claw; some lobsters have the crusher claw on the right side and others have it on the left.

Lobster meat is a great source of protein, providing 28 grams of protein per cup.

Lobsters are a great source of heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

If you hold the butter, lobsters aren’t fattening. Three and a half ounces only have 96 calories and about two grams of fat.

Steamed lobster served with herbs and lemon water in the Carp platter a Mottahedeh reproduction from the Dallas Museum of Art. 

Soft-shelled lobster is considered to have sweeter, more tender meat.

A soft-shelled lobster is one that has just molted and is in a growing phase.

Soft-shelled lobsters are called “shedders.”

There are around 6,000 licensed lobstermen in Maine.

Maine lobstermen have caught over 100 million pounds of lobster annually since 2011.

Steamed Lobster and corn served in the Ch’ien Lung bowl a reproduction of a rare 18th century Imperial Chinese bowl.

Lobsters taste with their legs via chemosensory hairs that identify food. They also chew food with “teeth” located in their stomachs, which are right behind the eyes and about the size of a walnut.

These are just a few of the fun facts about lobsters and a few of Mottahedeh’s patterns. You may eat your lobsters in any dish, but we think lobster taste better on Mottahedeh China.

Europeans made soft paste porcelain before they discovered that the use of kaolin

(disintegrated granite) would allow them to raise the temperature and melt the clay into a more durable solid.  Painted soft paste ceramic is called Majolica and was first introduced into production in Italy and Spain in the mid 1400’s and later new developments and a resurgence of production in England in the late- 1800’s with Minton.

Recipe for Majolica: A clay model is formed, dipped (or coated) in tin glaze, then set aside to dry, brush-painted on the unfired glaze, then fired. This is tin glaze Majolica.  The process requires four separate stages and high skill in painting, but just one firing, in contrast to porcelain which has two, three or more firings.

Here is an article about majolica from In Good Taste, a blog of Invaluable Art Auction Website that I found very interesting:

https://www.invaluable.com/blog/majolica/

Great reproductions of the English style Majolica

Mottahedeh took on the task of making some great reproductions of the English style Majolica, beginning in the 1990’s though produced today in Italy. Rather than the style being depictions on a plate surface, it is exuberantly brushed glaze on sculptural shapes.

Our assortment is more limited now as styles pass in and out of fashion over time.  If you find some Mottahedeh majolica at an estate sale, a yard sale, or your aunt’s forgotten items in her attic, take advantage of the opportunity to take it home.  It will be a collector’s item one day,  we tell ourselves, “Shapely and Colorful is Us”.

It is important not to use the old majolica to serve food on, as the tin glaze does not meet today’s standard of minimal or non-existent lead release, and you can be sure that you may use Mottahedeh’s majolica  for food because it is made with new technology and processes.   The World is full of wonderful finds.  We hope you find some great Majolica.

Ibis and Lotus Compote

Double Leaf Plate with Nuts

Fan Bowl (not in assortment)

Large Melon Tureen and Stand

Sardine Box (not in assortment)

Lotus Pitcher

  Strawberry Strainer with Stand

Exotic Birds Pair

As long as there is the blue sky above or the deep blue sea, blue will be in fashion.

Our experience over the last thirty years (and having tried many variations on this theme) is that it is better to lead by expressing your own individual point of view.  We try to aim for high quality that others cannot imitate and don’t cut any corners in that regard.   If we perceive a need, we try to fill it.  This is not to say that following trends is unimportant, but it is less important than many believe…

For instance, we often see the headlines’ “Blue is back in fashion.”  Well, blue has never been out of fashion.  As long as there is the blue sky above or the deep blue sea, blue will be in Fashion.  We humans just innately have an affinity for colors of the natural world.

Speaking of blue, there are many kinds: peacock blue, sky blue, gray blue, misty blue, turquoise blue, but our favorite is cobalt blue.

Cobalt is a navy blue color that leans toward purple.

Cobalt, a naturally occurring ore, was in use dating back to the 8^th and 9^th centuries and was mined in Persia and used in the Far East in ceramics and jewelry.  The properties of cobalt, that deep and melty blue color are only unlocked in ceramics at very high temperatures…above the temperature to fuse other oxide colors.  Fired at the highest temperature it yields a soft gray-blue; medium= deep and just barely melted; low= sharp edged and blue-black.

Cobalt is one of those looks we are known for and we often fire it onto gray-body porcelain which is what was available in China during the pinnacle of the Chinese export era in the 1700s. But more than that, we are known for Color with a capital C.  These are our patterns that are made on gray body porcelain, though not all of these are cobalt decorations:

• Tobacco Leaf
• Blue Canton
• Chinoise Blue
• Mandarin Bouquet
• Famille Verte
• Sacred Bird and Butterfly
• Indigo Wave
• Golden Butterfly

Then there are more dinner patterns in blue but not gray body; rather using bright white body:

• Imperial Blue
• Virginia Blue
• Blue Lace
• Cornflower Lace
• Blue Shou
• Blue Dragon
• Emmeline
• Peacock
• Lapis

There are so many colors and shapes that it is not advisable to show them all to you here.  You can see theam all on our website and there is a list of retailers across the United States for an up-close and personal look.  There is also a downloadable catalog.   The classics are a good jumping off point for your collection because they have already withstood the test of time, with the added twist that our hard porcelain can go in the dishwasher and the oven, even when featuring gold. Happy search.

It is considered as such because it involves thinking about possibilities.  In essence, it allows us to explore ideas of things that are not in our present environment, or perhaps not even real.  (Wikipedia).

Another word for imagination is creativity.  Some people are wildly creative and some people are confined by only what they see or know around them.  The second set are interested in rules and facts as the starting point for their actions.

Children are, by nature, creative.  They are imagining all day long. They rehearse experiences and join together ideas in a fluid stream as each new piece of information reaches them.

Food landscape Age 7 with tobogganer

I was looking at my grandchildren who are “wildly creative” as they dismantled the TV room

and set up a “house” with kitchen chairs as walls and blankets draped over the top, sofa cushions, rope string, cellophane tape, dolls, vehicles, a shaggy baby blanket for the floor and dishes for serving pretend food. My daughter encourages them to do all this by not minding if an explosion of activity is centered in the house. She goes way beyond it with art projects at every turn.   Painting up one arm and down the other has been a frequent pastime.  I must confess, I have encouraged such messes with my own children. It is important to understand in a deeper sense what they are doing. They are learning by imagining and making connections.

To me,  the best idea when talking about a subject to look up the definition and here it is: Imagination is the ability to produce and simulate novel objects, sensations, and ideas in the mind without any immediate input of the senses.

It is also described as the forming of experiences in one's mind, which can be re-creations of past experiences such as vivid memories with imagined changes. Imagination helps make knowledge applicable in solving problems and is fundamental to integrating experience and the learning process. A basic training for imagination is listening to storytelling, (all of this says Wikipedia).

Everyone seems to quote Albert Einstein on the subject who seems to have become the Guru of thought on so many subjects and so I looked that up too.  He said a lot more and you can read quite a lot from him if you get start down that path.

Albert Einstein said, "Imagination ... is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited.   Imagination encircles the world."^[15]

We tried this flow. It wasn’t great.

Famed psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who first identified the mental state of flow, wrote the book “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.” Kacey Spencer tells us.  She goes on  in an article, “A leading theorist in the positive mental state, he describes creativity as, “a central source of meaning in our lives … most of the things that are interesting, important, and human are the results of creativity … [and] when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.” Based on the previous definition, creativity invokes both the artistic and the analytical. It takes creativity to not only create music but to develop the technology and device to play it. Can we conclude that anyone, anywhere can be creative? The answer is yes.  Much like the tools used to create, creative thinkers come in all forms.  It is not just a trait you are borne with, “says Katie.

OK, now I was getting into trouble because I do not want to say that I know anything broad-reaching about this subject and it is not clear to me why one would be reading this blog.  Here we are not talking about products or history or design as such, but the broader subject is “what makes for great imagination”. I got his book and tried to boil down his ideas.  He, being a university professor, decided to use the scientific method and culled a list of people in several different fields who were considered the best, brightest and most creative in whatever field they were in. They were interviewed and the researchers compared notes.

Well, Better?

Paul Wojcik and New Growth Permanent Florals with our tulipiers.

Don’t forget fun. Creative people get it.

The primary thing all of them had in common, (we will call him Mihaly) says, is that they loved what they did and considered it an opportunity to enjoy the work because it was fun.  They were dedicated their field whether it made money or not because it gave them meaning and they enjoyed it.

They were motivated by an intense curiosity which gave them broad knowledge of a field and this allowed them to be able to judge if an idea or plan was good and workable.  They were inventive and would make do with whatever was at hand. They felt they had limited time and therefore concentrated intensely on their field of endeavor.  It seems that these creative people have a tremendous amount of confidence and this might stem from being given the freedom to explore, even if it takes them down a dead end, because they learn from everything.

Logical thought, knowledge and spirituality: a central source of meaning in our lives …

We know where logical thought can take us and the same with knowledge, but what role does spirituality have to do with it?  Faith is a belief in the unseen, and for many people this is religion or God.  The definition of God we use here is the unknowable essence that animates the universe.  We know certain things exist because there is evidence of them, such as gravity.  We know not to step off a roof or what will happen when we throw a ball.  There is no question about gravity however much we can’t see it, we can see its effects.

The nature of inspiration: Being open to a subject. Being open to an answer.

But in this instance, spirituality is used in the context of inspiration.  If you meditate upon an idea and focus your mind on it, you will become informed about a subject or if not informed, you will search for the answer.  This is the nature of inspiration: being open to a subject, being open to an answer and being impelled to create or envision something new, something good.   Inspiring ideas are not created by us, they are discovered by us, as a reflection of this unseen world.  Creative people are willing to see beyond what is evident in the knowledge that the possibility exists.  This is for all fields, not just the visual arts. We leave you with this saying on one of our verse trays and wish you a childish heart.

Mottahedeh is one of those small and independent little companies that fills a niche in our society while most of these companies of a similar type have gone by the wayside.  We make decorative items and historic dinnerware because we think it is important--it is the culture of appreciation of beauty.  Everyone has a conception of what is beautiful and we have a rather specific one.  It focuses on the best of the past, whether it is a cultural style, a refined form, a group of colors that are blended harmoniously. For over 90 years of developing products, they can be found in many homes, garage sales, attics and places of pride in the house.  These objects could be toleware, brass, silver, crystal, glass, porcelain, faience, wood, or pottery. Taken as a whole, they are quite different in style, while most have an antique origin or inspiration.  They represent a good idea, a group of people or a point in time.

It is an accepted point that one person may look at our objects and decides he/she doesn’t like it at all, while, at the same time, another person thinks it is great—just the cat’s meow. This shows that the designer picked a position and tried to say something loud and clear.  We regard this as great. At Mottahedeh, an object is what it is -all the way. There are so many points of view and all are valuable, if there is the courage to express it.

Do you know the story about the Emperor’s new clothes. Or in this case, the phrase?

The Phrase Finder website say this is a label given to any fictional item that viewers have been induced into believing as real.

“The expression 'the emperor's new clothes' or variants like 'the emperor has no clothes' are difficult to explain briefly and are most easily understood by looking at its source, that is, Hans Christian Anderson's fable The Emperor’s New Clothes, 1837.

Anderson's tale involves a vain king who was preoccupied with his appearance and his wardrobe. A pair of swindlers took advantage of this by pretending to be able to weave the finest cloth, which couldn't be seen by people who were either unfit for office or were particularly stupid. The king decided to have a suit of clothes made from the fabric in order to test which of his courtiers was unfit for office. As he didn't want to appear stupid or unfit for rule himself, he pretended to be able to see the new clothes, as did all of his courtiers. He paraded the 'new clothes' through the streets and the onlookers, also not wishing to appear stupid, all admired them. A small child, who didn't understand the apparent necessity for pretense, piped up 'But he has nothing on!'. The bubble of pretense burst and soon all the onlookers were repeating what the child had said, whilst the king continued the procession, attempting to maintain his dignity by pretending that nothing had happened.

So, the meaning of the expression is clear from the story. It is used in contexts where people are widely acclaimed and admired but where others question whether what they have created is of any value. Modern-day examples might be the highly priced work of conceptual artists or the more avant-guard products of fashion designers.”

Each person has his/her likes and dislikes but the important thing is to see with one’s own eyes and not through the eyes of another. Be true to your vision and develop your style. We also thing it is important to look for beauty in the world and in others and express it.

You may be wondering how this company got started, or why someone would make a business out of reproductions and decorative accessories. Mottahedeh is an evolution that began in the 1920’s with Mildred and Rafi Mottahedeh and continues today under the direction of Wendy and Grant Kvalheim, and Pamela Mondschein as part-owner.

Authenticity is our hallmark.  We look it up.

When Grant and I moved to NY City where Grant started work at Morgan Bank on Wall Street, I went to visit with Mildred Mottahedeh who was a fond family friend with her offices and showroom at 225 Fifth Avenue on the edge of Madison Park. It was and is an impressive building. Rafi had passed away a couple of years earlier. Our association began with my grandparents.  Mildred and Rafi were adherents of the Baha’i Faith, a world religion founded by Baha’u’llah, as were my grandparents, parents and I and my husband are as well.  They worked on many projects together.  They performed many philanthropic efforts globally and Mrs. Mottahedeh was the first Baha’i representative to the fledgling United Nations in 1945. .

She took it upon herself to look for a job on my behalf as she knew I had taken bronze casting classes and other art classes at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts a couple of years earlier. She picked up the phone and called her friend and associate, Joanne Lyman, who was the director of the reproduction department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They were looking for someone to oversee reproductions in metals.  Mottahedeh had a robust Indian handicraft Brass business that was about 25% of sales at the time.  So I went for an interview, was not experienced enough for the job, (which I didn’t get) but did get to take a tour of the product development production areas that were then housed in the museum itself.

What a wonderful cornucopia of people, of materials, colors, iterations, and attention to detail!  All this with the goal of being true to the original art. These finished pieces would be sold in the shops and contribute to the revenue stream to keep the museums healthy. Some things that they could not make, were outsourced, such as the wonderful porcelains that Mottahedeh made under license of the Met like Palace Blue and Tobacco Leaf dinnerware.

At the time we arrived in NY in 1979, reproduction of classic design and historic artworks was not that common in the world.  Mildred, Rafi and their good friend and avid collector of antique porcelains, former Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, developed the Nelson Rockefeller Collection of reproductions in the late 1970’s. It caused quite an uproar with the Antiques community. Nelson traveled the world and sent back to NY crates of rare finds that he thought would make great additions to his repro collection, paying a pretty penny (thousands of dollars) for the antique original.   By the mid 1980’s this reproduction idea caught on. And by the 1990’s the U.S. was awash with reproductions of every medium you can think it. Some very good and some less so.

Reproductions were a later development in the Mottahedeh story; this is after Mildred and Rafi had been wholesale antiques dealers up until World War II ended access to global, especially European antiques.  Antiques were put into hiding all over the world and the lawless invaders were confiscating anything of artistic value they could find.  They were then hiding it.  Transport was disrupted and factories were closed or destroyed. So Mottahedehs found a new way of interacting with the world to a lasting effect of excellence.

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https://www.amazon.com/Monuments-Men-GeorgeClooney/dp/B00II399HG/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=the+monuments+men+movie&qid=1612553035&sr=8-1

Here is a link to a great movie on the subject called The Monuments Men.  It sheds light of the lengths this band of art historians went to save the world ‘s most treasured art. It is an all- star cast, too but the one who is missing in this picture is Cate Blanchett whose character she played was the biggest hero of the Day.

Mildred and Rafi concentrated on those items with history and importance.   First and foremost, the Mottahedehs were historians and worked primarily with museums and foundations, with whom they had great connections.  They researched eras and designs and cared about authenticity.

But the salient point regarding my story is that I was thrilled and excited to learn of a new line of endeavor that I wanted to become part of.  Knowing that more knowledge and skills were needed, I enrolled at Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn, in order to study the technical aspects of working in many mediums. After 3 three years I received a degree in Sculpture, (yes, it is a field).

Classes included: Light color and Design, mold making, life drawing, sculptural life study, jewelry construction and casting, enameling, bronze casting, modeling and enlarging, clays and glazes, pottery, and art history.  How to stuff it all into one’s mind, not knowing what would be needed.  Upon finishing at Pratt, another opportunity for a job interview arose at the Met and again the job eluded me.  I think it was my typing skills (they did have me take a typing test). Maybe I was too young.

The issue was this:  that there are very few jobs in this line of work, and the people who make these kinds of things work in small companies and with limited production and reach, unless one is an industrial engineer.

One discovery during this art school exploration was that the subjects such as drawing and sculpting, etc. came easily to me though I didn’t consider myself an artist. My final one “man” show included a full-sized seated male nude that I sculpted from life, cast in plaster and patina’d as a bronze.  I brought the Man, along with several other things.   Without job prospects we decided it was time to go home and we concentrated on raising a family.

When our oldest was eight years old, we became aware that Mildred Mottahedeh, nearing 82 years old, was looking for a buyer for her company. While in school, I had taken on a number of projects that she had perhaps given me to see what I could do, such as drawings, mold making and casting candlesticks and a key chain produced in the thousands for orthopedic doctors.   Through much back and forth and a great deal of trust, we tied the knot. My husband Grant, and friend Jeff, bought me a job (I like to say) with the confidence that I would grow into it and Mildred might have some confidence that their legacy would go on.

The arrangement was that she would stay on for five years.  She came in every day from her apartment in at UN Plaza, carrying bags of the sumptuous lunches she served to the entire staff and the many guests who passed by, invited or spontaneously.  She would teach as much as she knew. She loved to tell jokes and loved to feed a person, with a marvelous twinkle in her eye, gauging how much he/she liked it.  She was the Great Ambassador.

She is also a legend.  I didn’t really know Rafi as he passed away before we came on the scene. Mildred passed away in February 2000 at the age of ninety-one. She was such a big presence that people thought she was designing long after she was no longer with us.  At that time, I have been at the helm of the company for eight years.

The many people who have worked for Mottahedeh over the years gave of their talents, their creativity and their expertise. Their connection goes far beyond a means of livelihood, but a love of history and beauty. I am very happy to see these develop every day.