IMoDD Hours:

Thursday – Sunday 12:00 to 5:00 p.m.

The International Museum of Dinnerware Design

524 Broadway Kingston, NY 12401

845-383-1333

For IMoDD location and parking, see the map below.

Map

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What’s New with IMoDD:

Upcoming Exhibition:

The Intersection Between Dining and Photography

January 18 – February 9, 2025

Opening Reception January 18, 2025, 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Link to The Intersection Between Dining and Photography page

This small exhibition has been curated in synergy with the opening of the Center for Photography Woodstock in Kingston on January 18, 2025. The close proximity of IMoDD, the Holocenter, and the CPW create a “Museum Row” concept, linking kindred spirits in terms of exhibitions, educational programming and the celebration of the arts in Midtown Kingston New York.

This exhibit looks at photography as it relates to dinnerware and dining. Three approaches are explored through objects in the IMoDD collection. First, photography as social commentary on popular culture is seen in Sandy Skoglund’s The Cocktail Party, a large-scale photograph created from the artist’s installation of human figures and inanimate living room furnishings covered with Cheez Doodles. In addition, work by Fornasetti, Mapplethorpe and Cindy Sherman alter both the traditional presentation of images by applying them to dinnerware, and the functionality of the dinnerware through the application of images. And finally photographic methods that physically alter the ceramic or glass structure of the dinnerware to create images through the interplay of light with the material using lithophanes or photosensitive glass.

New Podcast about IMoDD from Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast

Kaatscast is a biweekly series featuring Catskills culture, history, sustainability, local interviews, literature, and the arts. Shows are hosted by Brett Barry and produced by Silver Hollow Audio, in the heart of the Catskills. Voted “Best Regional Podcast” 3 years in a row.

Inaugural Exhibitions

IMoDD is presenting two inaugural exhibitions. The first is a curated exhibition of Dining Grails. Included are nearly 400 fabulously designed objects by leading designers for industry as well as masterpieces by contemporary artists in the tabletop genre such as Eva Zeisel, Russel Wright, Roy Lichtenstein, Eddie Dominguez and Pop-up book illustrator Robert Sabuda. The second inaugural exhibition, Dining Memories offers a chance to remember cherished dining experiences through abbreviated, intimate vignettes such as picnics, innovative Mid-Century TV dinners, diner moments, tea aboard the Queen Mary, the art of high chair fine dining, and more.  Follow the links to learn more about these exhibitions:  
Link to: Dining Grails 
Link to: Dining Memories

à la carte gallery

Our interactive gallery where you can try pulling a tablecloth out from under some dishes!  (And share your success by posting a video on Instagram)

Carry Outs

Carry Outs is IMoDDs gift shop featuring books, calendars and some very special dinnerware.

IMoDD’s Unforgettable Dinnerware Zoom Lecture Series:

The Spring 2025 Unforgettable Dinnerware series begins on January 15 with presentations on the second Wednesday of each month through May.  

New IMoDD Video:

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Vadna of California: Duality in Dinnerware!

part of the IMoDD Unforgettable Dinnerware Zoom lecture series

Presented by Lynn Humfreville Zenick, Jim Drobka and Scott Vermillion

When Vadna of California introduced its innovative dinnerware design in a “two-tone color scheme and a combination of materials, wood and clay,” a 1947 newspaper article described it as “Duality in Dinnerware,” a term that aptly describes the Vadna of California story.

In 1946, Bill and Vadna Humfreville, a-husband-and-wife team opened Vadna of California in Los Angeles, collaborating in a dual design capacity. Bill’s innovative approach involved designing dinnerware shapes with thin walls and paired with wooden bases and handles, while Vadna utilized her refined aesthetic to formulate the glaze colors and create hand-painted dinnerware patterns.

During their 25 years in operation, the company location and name evolved. Seeking a quieter life, Bill and Vadna relocated their family and Vadna of California to Leucadia, a small coastal community north of San Diego. To take advantage of Leucadia’s vibrant tourist trade, Bill and Vadna added a small retail store showcasing their own pottery and items from fellow potters, artisans and local businesses. They changed the company name to Vadna Ware to better describe their expanded business.

The Vadna business model was marked by duality. In response to the dinnerware industry’s decline due to a flood of low-cost imports into the US market, Bill and Vadna adjusted the company’s emphasis from labor-intensive dinnerware sets to mugs—a popular cup shape at the time that required less production effort.

Lynn Humfreville Zenick (Bill and Vadna’s daughter), Jim Drobka, and Scott Vermillion present and discuss the intriguing dualities of Vadna of California and its relatively unknown and fascinating history.

Lynn Hunfreville Zenick is the daughter of Bill and Vadna Humfreville, owners and operators of Vadna of California. When she was five, her parents relocated the family and business to Leucadia, California. With her parents working at the pottery and store every day, Lynn virtually grew up on the premises. She has fond memories of having unlimited access to clay, glazes and other materials to craft various objects. As she grew older, she worked at the store on weekends and during the summer months. Bill and Vadna would often take Lynn along on business excursions to Los Angeles, where they attended gift shows, visited their pottery mold maker, and dined at the Tam O’Shanter restaurant—a place that she loved and is still in business today. Lynn is a social worker who continues to live in California and is devoted to her four children and six grandchildren.

Jim Drobka became interested in Vadna of California when it was pictured in Bill Stern’s Mission to Modernism book, and Jack Chipman’s California Pottery Scrapbook. The elegant designs, and the unique combination of ceramic and wood on some pieces made an immediate impression. This led to collecting examples of Vadna and researching its history. He has been collecting mid-century dinnerware since 1988. Interest in Russel Wright, Eva Zeisel, and other midcentury designers has grown to include collecting production from many California companies. He has lent pieces to several museum exhibitions, including the 2006 “Eva Zeisel: Extraordinary Designer at 100” exhibit at Mingei International Museum, San Diego. He also researched and wrote the chapter about Zeisel’s Riverside China for the book Eva Zeisel: Life, Design, and Beauty.

Scott Vermillion is on the board of the International Museum of Dinnerware Design (IMoDD),  and is an avid vintage dinnerware collector, designer, and design historian. He became interested in Vadna of California when tasked to write a history after the IMoDD acquired a set of their dinnerware through the Bill Stern estate. He has lent pieces to several museum exhibitions including the Cooper Hewitt’s “Russel Wright: Creating American Lifestyle,” and “Serious Play: Design in Mid-Century American” and “Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890-1980,” both at the Milwaukee Art Museum. He has contributed to several related books, including Eva Zeisel: Life, Design, and Beauty; he is co-editor of the Eva Zeisel Forum Newsletter; and administrates several social media pages devoted to vintage dinnerware.

Photos from IMoDD’s Members Preview Party on October 26, 2024