Aufgetischt

In this exceptional exhibition catalogue on the mores of dining, the Pforzheim Jewelry Museum presents historical goldsmithing and contemporary design, jewellery “to eat,” and treasures from across the globe. Text in German.

The aristocratic families of Europe once used to indulge in luxurious banquets with exquisite table accessories to demonstrate their power and extravagantly while away the hours. Well into the 18th century, it was not unusual for people to bring their own cutlery—quite often peculiar, valuable one-of-a-kind pieces. In the Baroque period, matching dinner services came into vogue and, in the wake of industrialization, became mass-produced commodities. Trading with faraway countries, conquests, and migration augmented people’s menus with “exotic” fruit and spices and contributed to a change in customs and traditions.
In an exceptional exhibition on the mores of dining, the Jewelry Museum in Pforzheim presents historical goldsmithing and contemporary design, jewelry “to eat,” and treasures from across the globe. In addition, the accompanying publication will entice you with its special aspects of food culture—after all, the way to one’s cultural heart is also through the stomach.

Text in German.

Frederike Zobel is head of the Pforzheim Jewelry Museum. She has extensive experience in strategic museum development, cultural management and cultural education. Most recently, she was Head of Communication and Outreach at the Deutsche Kinemathek in Berlin. Prior to that, she managed several programs at the German Federal Cultural Foundation, including "dive in. Program for Digital Interactions“, the thematic focus on Bauhaus 2019 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus and ”KUR-Conservation and Restoration of Mobile Cultural Assets". Katja Poljanac studied at the Faculty of Design at Pforzheim University. The graduate designer is a master goldsmith and state-certified designer for jewelry and utensils. She worked as a freelance jewelry and exhibition designer for the magazine “GZ Art + Design”. Since 2007 she has been responsible for art education at the Schmuckmuseum and Technisches Museum Pforzheim. She has been involved in the (re)conception of permanent and special exhibitions at the Jewelry Museum. Isabel Schmidt-Mappes studied ethnology in Freiburg im Breisgau and Uppsala. After her traineeship, she worked as a museum educator at the German Clock Museum in Furtwangen and as an editor in a PR agency. Since 2006 she has been responsible for public relations at the Schmuckmuseum and Technisches Museum Pforzheim. She has contributed to numerous publications and to the (re)conception of permanent and special exhibitions at the Jewelry Museum.