blue and white china plate with a decorative motif listing the first amendment to the US Constitution
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Setting the Table for 250 Years of American Politics

  • Duration:Temporary
  • Location:Whitten Featured Object Case

(date) 4/7/2026–9/6/2026

The 250th anniversary of the United States of America calls for a period of reflection on the nation’s history, development, and impact. To perform such national introspection requires an examination of the historical record and the material culture that composes it. Setting the Table for 250 Years of American Politics explores the political memorabilia that has shaped this nation’s elections. Specifically, this exhibit engages with political memorabilia that targets the domestic space of the dinner table including implements of eating and drinking.

The conception of food has, arguably since the beginning of time, been equated with communion, connection, and conversation. The application of political imagery on dinnerware inserted an explicit political conversation into this space of communion. However, these objects, porcelain and whiteware ceramics more broadly, cannot be read monolithically through their intended purpose by a particular political campaign. The meaning of these objects is shaped through their entire lives, beginning with the materials from which they are crafted, to the international manufacturers that produce them, the global network that trades them, and the people that inherit and ascribe meaning to them. In this context, the politics of the dinner table becomes complicated by the web of politics and memories that shape them. This complex history reflects that of the United States and allows us to consider what has shaped our idea of “America” today..