The Everlasting Appeal of Vegetable Decor

For as long as food has been eaten at the table, vegetable decor has also served an important role in the home. The creation of porcelain dinnerware inspired by what’s growing in the garden can be traced back to 18th- and 19th-century England and Europe. According to Richard Hird, assistant vice president, specialist, ceramics and glass at Sotheby’s in New York, the Count Heinrich von Brühl–commissioned“Brühlsche Allerlei”circa 1742 was “one of the first porcelain services to incorporate vegetables as a design element,” and featured “as many as 2,000 pieces painted with various plants, fruits, nuts and seeds, as well as handles and finials in naturalistic fruit and vegetable forms.”

As a product of the early ’90s, I grew up devouring the books from Beatrix Potter’s belovedPeter Rabbitseries and devotedly watchingVeggieTales,so I’ve had an insatiable appetite for vegetable motifs from a young age. When the interior designerBunny Williamssaid that “decorating a room is like making a great salad, you want interesting ingredients,” she probably didn’t think we would all take it quite so literally, though.

But those that indulge in the grandeur of vegetable decor are often born from a different breed—they are truly evolved people with taste. Of the many attributes thatBunny Mellonis fondly remembered for, abookcasefull of rare 18th-century European botanical wares—cabbages,artichokes,radishes,lettuce,cauliflower,asparagus,mixed greens, and more—is most certainly at the top of the list. (All five tiers of theceramics collection, fresh from the late design icon’s2,000-acre estate in Virginia, were up for grabs andsold at auctionin 2014.)

A table set with lettuce wares from the Dodie Thayer for Tory Burch collection.

Photo: Noa Griffel

Since the 1960s, the Portuguese companyBordallo Pinheirohas dominated the market for cabbage earthenwares. As a longtime fan ofDodie Thayer(also known as the Pottery Queen of Palm Beach),Tory Burchpractically leaped at the opportunity toreintroducethe artisan’s retired lettuce wares to the next generation with an exclusivecollaborationin 2015. Having grown up in a household full of Dodie’s signature Lettuce Ware, she now has an entire armoire filled with pieces that she’s collected over the years.

“When we started designing our home collection, I kept going back to Dodie’s Lettuce Ware as a reference, so I called her in 2013 to ask if she would be interested in a collaboration,” Tory shares in an email. “To my excitement, she said yes! I went to visit Dodie at her home on the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter, Florida, and she had great advice: Try different things, respect nature, and be self-reliant. Spending time with Dodie, I learned that she truly lived by those words.”

TheAmerican Museum of Ceramic Art(AMOCA) currently has some of Dodie’s original Lettuce Wares from the 1960s to 1980s in their permanent collection. In 2018, Frank and Barbara Sinatra’s estate sale featured a307-piece dinnerware setsold for $37,500. Sotheby’s inauguralDining IN salein 2020 included an extensiveDodie Thayer pottery Lettuce Ware service, which made $138,600 against an estimate of $10,000 to 15,000. “People want items with a story and a sense of humor, and vegetable decor is a bit surreal,” Tory explains. “Dodie Thayer’s Lettuce Ware is brilliant in its contradictions—it is incredibly fine yet down-to-earth, inspired by the way she taught herself to mold pottery using lettuce and cabbage leaves.”

If you’re wondering why vegetable decor has been such a hot commodity amongst the elite, there’s a valid explanation for that. “In the mid-18th century, when many of these forms were introduced in the ceramic centers of Europe, porcelain production in Europe was in its infancy,” Richard explains in an email. “These large models of vegetables and animals, some of which are quite complex and almost life-size, would have been extremely difficult to produce, in a time when kilns were fueled by burning wood and with very primitive methods of gauging kiln temperature. So these time consuming and therefore costly objects would demand a premium and were aimed at the social elite and aristocracy.”

Almost every year, there’s a particular piece of produce that becomes the cream of the crop: 2021 was theyear of the mushroom, although some might argue thatfungiwere blowing up before then. (Surely you’ve seen plenty ofmushroom decorby now.) TheEmma Chamberlain通过玉米凳子from Rotary Hero is another object that has been on heavy rotation in interiors since 2020. Fromtomato-scented candlesandserving setsto the colortomato red, it seems like tomatoes are currently in season as well—there’s even a “tomato tomato tomato” trend going viral onTikTok. Richard believes that lettuce will always reign supreme, but suggests that apples could have a moment. It’s hard to predict whichvegetable—or fruit—will be next in line to take the throne come 2023, but there will always be growing demand for a renaissance.

Ready for a taste?