These are not fancy glasses:
They’re celery vases and they’re exactly what they sound like: vases for celery. In the late 1800s, people used these vases to ostentatiously present celery to their guests. Celery, you see, was a status food: a rare delicacy that only wealthy families could afford and, therefore, a way to demonstrate your importance to guests.
As celery began to decline in importance — cheaper varieties became available and its role for the elite declined — celery vases were replaced by celery dishes. “Less conspicuous on the dining table,” writes decorative arts consultant Walter Richie, “the celery dish reflected the diminishing importance of celery.”
Comments 9
Leslee Bottomley Beldotti — May 21, 2014
My grandmother (born 1918) had a celery dish very similar to the one pictured. I had no idea it was specifically for celery. I think we used it to serve olives and pickles when I was a kid.
Victoria Mathis — May 21, 2014
I love the odd randoms you post.
Natalie — May 21, 2014
I used to work at a very high-end fine china shop and always thought that a sociological treatment of the dinner table and entertaining culture among the social elite would be fascinating.
K Williams Bryson — May 22, 2014
I'm a dilettante collector of cut glass and china - thank you for this revealing piece. I have several celery dishes and have seen the glasses but was not aware of the social display "evolution."
fork — May 22, 2014
As soon as I saw this, I thought of Norman Rockwell's Freedom From Want, where the center of the table is basically white (empty white plates and glasses filled with water), which highlights the dish of celery.
I always thought having the center so white and bare was a compositional decision, so we'd see the focus as the gathering of people. So it was odd to read that, particularly in wartime Europe, the painting was "commonly perceived as a depiction of American overabundance." (wikipedia) If you compare it to contemporary pictures of Thanksgiving tables, or some of the spreads in, say, Flemish food art, it's hardly an overabundance and no feast for the eyes.
I wonder if, by 1943, celery was just diminishing in importance or had already diminished. One art history review calls the side dish of celery "humble". Forty years from rare delicacy to humble?
Bill R — May 23, 2014
While the dish itself offers celery a much higher status than deserved (a vase borders on the ridiculous) it is appropriate for a formal setting.
Great post though!
Lunad — May 24, 2014
I always thought it odd that a scene in the Rocky Horror Picture Show had a vase of celery on the table. I guess someone on set knew about this historical oddity and decided to throw it in?
Szue — November 26, 2014
My parents used to keep their celery in a glass in the fridge, it kept it from getting wilted and limp. I would think that was part of the purpose of the celery vases, to keep it crisp.