Rosenthal Birds On Trees

For those in the know, French-born American industrial designer Raymond Loewy is the “father of streamlining.” He is widely recognized as a pioneer of industrial design consulting — a creative powerhouse who took aim at cluttered designs and simplified them. Loewy left his mark on everything from toothbrushes to trashcans to spacecraft interiors. He designed cars, worked in illustration, and crafted comely dressers and other furniture.

Loewy was born in Paris, France. At age 15, he designed a model airplane that was powered by rubber bands. It won the James Gordon Bennett Cup of 1908. Loewy patented the model kit for this plane by the following year and saw brisk sales. With his savings, Loewy was able to study at the University of Paris and then at Ecole de Lanneau, where he earned an engineering degree in 1918.

Loewy moved to New York City in 1919 and found work as a window designer for the department stores Macy's, Wanamaker's and Saks and as a fashion illustrator for Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Loewy’s big break in industrial design came in 1929 when he altered the Gestetner duplicating machine — removing jutting parts and encasing the moving works in an understated cover. It caused a sensation within the industry — and companies began to call on him.

Loewy designed packaging for Coca-Cola and revised the look of Lucky cigarettes. The “Loewy Look,” which referred to the designer’s efforts to strip a product of any unnecessary detail and streamline its appearance, began to characterize hundreds of products.

Loewy found clients in a dizzying number of companies. He did everything from retooling logos to redesigning products. His 1934 Sears Coldspot refrigerator was a sleek innovation that broke sales records. His Pennsylvania Railroad locomotive resembled a speeding bullet and was the darling of the 1939 World’s Fair. Loewy even reworked shapes for snacks at Nabisco. By the time World War II gathered steam, Raymond Loewy Associates — the industrial design firm he founded — had been operating in a number of American cities. When Time magazine featured him on the cover in October 1949 — Loewy was not shy about publicity — his profile soared.

Loewy worked with Studebaker for decades. The success of their 1953 Starliner coupe was due to his revolutionary design, while their 1963 futuristic, fiberglass-bodied Avanti, which came with advanced safety features and materialized at a time when the company was experiencing financial hardship, was his crowning achievement for the maker.

Returning to his roots in aviation, Loewy worked for NASA from 1967 to 1973 on the interior design of the Skylab space station. He was also involved in the interior designs of the Concorde supersonic jet and Air Force One. Loewy delighted in creating furniture and collaborated with manufacturers such as Mengel Furniture, Rosenthal and Doubinsky Frères. In the 1970s, Loewy and his wife shuttered their businesses and retired in France.

On 1stDibs, find vintage Raymond Loewy cabinets, serveware, seating and more.

Your dining room table is a place where stories are shared and personalities shine — why not treat yourself and your guests to the finest antique and vintage glass, silver, ceramics and serveware for your meals?

Just like the people who sit around your table, your serveware has its own stories and will help you create new memories with your friends and loved ones. From ceramic pottery to glass vases, set your table with serving pieces that add even more personality, color and texture to your dining experience.

Invite serveware from around the world to join your table settings. For special occasions, dress up your plates with a striking Imari charger from 19th-century Japan or incorporate Richard Ginori’s Italian porcelain plates into your dining experience. Celebrate the English ritual of afternoon tea with a Japanese tea set and an antique Victorian kettle. No matter how big or small your dining area is, there is room for the stories of many cultures and varied histories, and there are plenty of ways to add pizzazz to your meals.

Add different textures and colors to your table with dinner plates and pitchers of ceramic and silver or a porcelain lidded tureen, a serving dish with side handles that is often used for soups. Although porcelain and ceramic are both made in a kiln, porcelain is made with more refined clay and is more durable than ceramic because it is denser. The latter is ideal for statement pieces — your tall mid-century modern ceramic vase is a guaranteed conversation starter. And while your earthenware or stoneware is maybe better suited to everyday lunches as opposed to the fine bone china you’ve reserved for a holiday meal, handcrafted studio pottery coffee mugs can still be a rich expression of your personal style.

“My motto is ‘Have fun with it,’” says author and celebrated hostess Stephanie Booth Shafran. “It’s yin and yang, high and low, Crate & Barrel with Christofle silver. I like to mix it up — sometimes in the dining room, sometimes on the kitchen banquette, sometimes in the loggia. It transports your guests and makes them feel more comfortable and relaxed.”

Introduce elegance at supper with silver, such as a platter from celebrated Massachusetts silversmith manufacturer Reed and Barton or a regal copper-finish flatware set designed by International Silver Company, another New England company that was incorporated in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1898. By then, Meriden had already earned the nickname “Silver City” for its position as a major hub of silver manufacturing.

At the bar, try a vintage wine cooler to keep bottles cool before serving or an Art Deco decanter and whiskey set for after-dinner drinks — there are many possibilities and no wrong answers for tableware, barware and serveware. Explore an expansive collection of antique and vintage glass, ceramics, silver and serveware today on 1stDibs.