Modern China

Fancy tableware needn’t look like something Granny has handed down, or even palmed off. Household china is undergoing its own cultural revolution. These five items will have you licking your plate clean.

Groovy Snack range by Joanne Windaus
Stylishly sleek and functional, Windaus’ work is the Audi of the porcelain world. The British-born, Bauhaus-influenced designer, who has lived in Germany for 30 years, brings unusual geometries to everyday items. Yet these finely corrugated pieces, equally at home with sushi or Continental breakfast, show that form can follow function. www.joannewindaus.com

Table Stories range by Tord Boontje for Authentics
If fairy tales are an inspiration for Boontje’s Table Stories collection, the results are anything but Grimm. The in-demand Dutchman, whose studio is in Bourg-Argental, France, has created delightfully florid underglaze prints that will charm even your grouchiest guest. With such fantastical forest creatures hiding beneath your food, magic at mealtimes is guaranteed. www.authentics.de

People Will Always Need Plates
Appealing to nostalgic Modernists and car fanatics everywhere, People Will Always Need Plates, the witty London duo of Hannah Dipper and Robin Farquhar, do a roaring trade out of applying illustrations of 1930s houses and today’s city traffic to their bespoke crockery. Often open to commissions, they also print tea towels. www.peoplewillalwaysneedplates.co.uk

7 Hills Bowl by Karim Rashid for Gaia&Gino
New York City-based Rashid, who is half Egyptian, half English and Canadian-raised, designed this topographical treat for Turkish brand Gaia&Gino. That’s some lineage. Modeled on Istanbul’s seven hills, if inverted, it serves as a fruit bowl or one heck of a Jell-O mold. But then again, perhaps the second option might be going too far?
www.gaiaandgino.com

Black Fluted Mega range by Karen Kjaeldgard-Larsen for Royal Copenhagen
Kjaeldgard-Larsen was just 26 when she revamped the venerable Blue
Fluted pattern for Royal Copenhagen (est. 1775) in 2000. After that success, her Mega range was extended to every fashionista’s favorite color. Each piece is hand-painted before glazing — it’s as classy as a Crown Princess in a little black dress. www.royalcopenhagen.com