A selling exhibition showcasing some of the best of the Arts & Crafts Movement's designs for the dining room 04 to 30 June 2008.Complimented by a collection of appetising paintings of food by modern and contemporary artists.

“And then I descended unto the dining-room, …………… the kind of room in which you could start a Sunday lunch and find yourself still listening to your uncle talking about his skiffle band at one in the morning. I was charmed before I'd even seen the menu…..” Zoe Williams.

The dining room has existed for centuries; from the Great Halls of the Middle Ages to the more modest kitchen-diners of modern city apartments we have always needed a place to meet, eat and entertain. In the 1970s along with the short-lived fashion for minimalism, apartments were built without a dining room and only a token kitchen with no more than a toaster, a kettle and a microwave. Pre-prepared foods are readily available in supermarkets and food is often consumed in front of the TV. However, with the increase in international travel and several television programmes teaching cooking skills, more and more people are realising the pleasure of preparing their own food and, in particular, sharing it with friends and family round a common table in a dining room. This exhibition concentrates on a range of furniture that filled the dining rooms of the ever popular Arts & Crafts Movement from 1890 to 1935 with examples of the work of several of the leading designers and makers of the period including Baillie Scott, The Glasgow School, Liberty, the Cotswold School and Ambrose Heal. It is complemented by an appetising collection of paintings of food by modern and contemporary artists starting with Sir Peter Blake and ending with Alfred Wolmark. Dining together gives an opportunity for conversation between family members and friends that is so often not possible at other times. The room is furnished with a dining table and a number of dining chairs; in this catalogue we have both rectangular and circular tables with arm and side chairs. Sideboards and dressers provide the storage space for crockery, cutlery and, quite often wine - the Baillie Scott Dresser, exhibit 1, is fitted with a revolving wine rack in one of its cupboards. Wine is a great accompaniment but not essential for the complete meal although W C Fields did comment: “Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.” Front cover exhibits 16, 15 & 49.

Illustrated catalogue £5 plus p&p from paul@millineryworks.co.uk 

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