Chef Bianca Azupardo presents inspired seasonal menus that showcase locally-sourced ingredients, complemented by stunning views of the city.
You're invited on a journey from the steamy kitchens of cooks who advocated light, flavourful cuisine centuries before our time to the dining rooms of connoisseurs who relished their meals served on newly-invented vessels. Be transported back to the 18th century through stunning objects, decadent recipes, amusing stories, and theatrical sets. Plan your visit to Savour: Food Culture in the Age of Enlightenment now!
On October 18, an all-star lineup of feminist chefs is cooking up a feast that steps off the well-trodden path of Canadian cuisine. The evening kicks off with a conversation between former line-cook-turned-journalist Ivy Knight, New York Times bestselling author Sheila Heti, and long-time Anothony Bourdain collaborator Laurie Woolever. Don't miss it!
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the most important specialty museums internationally. It houses approximately 4,000 objects, including European porcelain, ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary ceramics. Search the collection online!
Everyone can love clay! Become a Friend at one of the world’s great specialty museums and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and clay classes, and more.
Creamware is a type of fine earthenware with a cream-coloured body produced in England and Europe during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Various versions of creamware were developed by potters in the mid-eighteenth century. Josiah Wedgwood, however, deserves recognition for improving the formula in the 1740s and for transforming it into a popular, mass-produced commodity in the 1760s.
Creamware possessed many of the same practical and aesthetic qualities as porcelain, but could be produced for a fraction of the cost. For this reason, it quickly emerged as the ceramic tableware of choice for middle class consumers. Competition from creamware producers put great pressure on many English and European porcelain and earthenware factories, forcing some of them to modify their products and others to go out of business.
The creamware collection, which was donated by Jean and Ken Laundy, includes objects made in Staffordshire and illustrates the spread of the medium to other regions of England and to factories of continental Europe.
1. Hound’s Head Stirrup Cup (detail), England, c. 1770s. Gift of Jean and Kenneth Laundy, G08.2.45
2. Hound’s Head Stirrup Cup (detail), England, c. 1770s. Gift of Jean and Kenneth Laundy, G08.2.45
3. Charger (detail), France, Rouen, attributed to the Poterat manufactory, late 17th century, The Pierre Karch and Mariel O'Neill-Karch Collection, G15.8.1
4. Pair of Shoes (detail), England, possibly London, 1705-1715, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.549.1-2. Photographer: Toni Hafkenscheid
5. Dish with Scenes of the Abduction of Europa (detail), Italy, Faenza, Attributed to the Master of the Bergantini Bowl, c.1537, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G83.1.351
6. Bird Dish (detail), England, possibly Staffordshire, possibly by Thomas Toft (d.1689), c.1690-1710, Gift of George and Helen Gardiner, G87.1.3
7. Sculpture of a Stove (detail), Switzerland, Winterthur, c.1650, The Hans Syz Collection, G96.5.418