Cutlery is often seen as “small and inconsequential”, says Dung Ngo, a Brooklyn-based editor, publisher and collector. “Yet it’s so intimate and personal. What other design do you put into your body multiple times a day?” For more than two decades, Ngo has been scouring flea markets and auction houses across Europe, Scandinavia and beyond for the best of modern cutlery. To date, he has amassed a collection of more than 10,000 pieces. “It’s treasure hiding in plain sight,” he says.
© David Mellor Design
Chinese Green, 1975, by David Mellor
© Denver Art Museum
Esotismo flatware, 1988, by Jean-Marie Patois
