Swid Powell

The New York City–based tableware company Swid Powell produced some of the most distinctive china and silver of the 1980s in collaboration with international architects and designers. It enjoyed renewed attention in 2007, when the Yale University Art Gallery mounted the exhibition “The Architect’s Table: Swid Powell and Postmodern Design,” celebrating the donation to its collection of the company’s papers.
Swid Powell was established in 1982 by Nan Swid and Addie Powell, who met while working at the modernist furniture company Knoll. Their idea was to translate the aesthetics of postmodern design from the skyscraper to the dining table, and they brought into their preliminary discussions nine prominent architects. Among these were Philip Johnson, Stanley Tigerman and Richard Meier, all of whom expressed enthusiasm about making their designs accessible beyond the small group with the funds to commission buildings from them.
The first Swid Powell collection was launched in 1984, accompanied by a bold, graphic print campaign in keeping with the era’s advertising trends. The company’s best-known collaboration was with Robert Venturi’s Philadelphia-based firm, Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, whose patterns — particularly the floral design Grandmother inspired by a tablecloth Venturi saw at the home of a colleague's grandmother — adorned Swid Powell porcelain as well as furniture and clothing.
The firm also partnered with architect Richard Meier, whose geometric designs were inspired in part by those of Josef Hoffmann and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Swid Powell also worked with Arata Isosaki, Ettore Sottsass, Zaha Hadid and George Sowden, creating products that incorporated the bright, saturated colors and popular and historical references, like Classical columns, that animated postmodern design in the 1980s. The Chicago Blue china pattern designed for Swid Powell by the firm Gwathmey Siegel references the distinctive patterns of Frank Lloyd Wright’s leaded glass windows. As you will see in the examples below, Swid Powell continued to produce fine, fashionable homewares throughout the decade and beyond.
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Stainless Steel
1980s American Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s North American Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Vintage Swid Powell
Brass
1990s American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate
20th Century American Swid Powell
Porcelain
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Ceramic
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate, Brass
20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Swid Powell
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Swid Powell
Brass, Silver Plate
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate, Brass
1990s Italian Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Italian Memphis Group Swid Powell
Silver Plate, Brass
20th Century American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Porcelain
20th Century Swid Powell
Sterling Silver
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Porcelain
1990s American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Italian Swid Powell
Silver Leaf
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Bronze
Late 20th Century Japanese Swid Powell
1950s Italian Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Glass, Art Glass
20th Century American Swid Powell
Sterling Silver
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Murano Glass
1990s American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Ceramic, Pottery
Late 20th Century French Post-Modern Swid Powell
Art Glass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Glass
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Travertine
1930s Italian Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Art Glass
1950s Italian Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Glass
1950s American Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Ceramic
1950s Italian Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Glass, Art Glass
1990s American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Ceramic, Pottery
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Swid Powell
Ceramic
1980s American Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Crystal, Metal, Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Swid Powell
Ceramic
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Swid Powell
Ceramic
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Ceramic
1980s Argentine Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s Hong Kong Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1990s American Post-Modern Swid Powell
Porcelain
1980s European Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s Hong Kong Modern Vintage Swid Powell
Silver Plate
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Swid Powell
Silver Plate