The exhibit, “Knife Fork Spoon: Everyday Tools, Extraordinary Design,” is one of the more quirky and entertaining attractions at the Denver Art Museum these days. The show features 150 examples of flatware design, reaching back to the 1900s, all laid out in tidy, little sets and ready for up-close inspection by museum visitors.
The exhibit, curated by Darrin Alfred, features pieces by iconic fabricators and designers, including names like Eliel Saarinen, Gio Ponti, Isamu Noguchi, Philippe Starck, Russel Wright and Zaha Hadid. It is star-studded in that way.
But it is also a serious exploration of the many ways design infiltrates everyday life and how its evolution, over decades, reflects changes in technology, social history, global travel and, in this case, eating habits.
The exhibition taps DAM’s in-house collections, though it is fueled by loans from Dung Ngo, a writer, editor, and publisher who has been collecting flatware for decades and collaborated on this display.
He is a thoughtful guy with a keen eye for a well-designed soup spoon, and a popular Instagram account (@misterngo). He is also the author of the comprehensive book “Knife Fork Spoon: Modernist Cutlery 1900–2025,” which will be released next week.
Ahead of a Sept. 26 talk he will give at the museum, we asked him to explain how he acquired the collection.
Ray Mark Rinaldi: Congratulations on the exhibit. And on the book. Letap start with the big picture. Tell us about your collection of flatware.
Dung Ngo: Like many collections, it started out innocent enough, with me wanting to find some flatware as a gift to myself — for my 30th birthday — that was “worthy” of an architect-trained design writer.
I knew nothing about the set I found (no one did in those early days of the internet), but a week of research at a university library helped me identify it (the design was “Composition” by Tapio Wirkkala), and I was hooked on the research and wanted to see and handle more.
After 25 years, I have something like a 10,000-piece-plus collection.
RMR: And where do you shop?
DN: My two main sources are eBay and flea markets, with dealers and auction houses as secondary go-tos. EBay for those sleepless nights, but flea markets are my true pleasure, especially the ones in Paris, Berlin and Scandinavia. I am known for flying back home with a whole suitcase full of flatware. What must those TSA agents think …
RMR: How do you know what to collect? Is it a matter of personal taste? Are you looking for valuable pieces? Filling in holes?
DN: In the beginning, I could hardly tell the difference between different designs, but once my eyes “adjusted” to the subtleties of profiles, details and proportion, I learned to recognize something radical when I see it, even if I have never seen it before. You also learn that certain manufacturers are better producers than others, and you trust the design with their mark.
RMR: Do you buy individual pieces or are you looking for sets? You must be in constant search for that one missing soup spoon …
DN: I am a bit of a completist. I decided that I wanted a collection that is as comprehensive as possible and I have tried to buy just one example set (of each design) — at least a knife, fork and spoon — but sometimes you also want to get a set for 4, 6 or even 12 people. It’s surprising how much storage space these little things take up.
Ѹ:What is one prized possession?
ٱ:Whatap so wonderful about the exhibition is that Darrin Alfred and I decided to include more than just everyday flatware design, so we have areas devoted to airline cutlery, children’s cutlery, accessible design. One of the rarest designs I own that is in the exhibition is a set of children’s flatware by the German designer Hans Karl Rodenkirchen. He specialized in flatware for kids, but he did it without dumbing it down. It’s a super sophisticated design, and in fact the company eventually made an adult version of it — it’s that good.
Ѹ:What is the rarest thing you own?
DN: I am a big fan of Josef Hoffmann, the Viennese Secession designer. He designed some sterling silver cutlery in the 1950s, right before he died, for Hugo Pott, that I am lucky to have found. Another treasure is a more casual dining flatware by the English designer David Mellor called “Chinese Ivory,” which is a bit of a cult item for collectors. It has been out of production for years.
Ѹ:Can you tell us about the book?
ٱ:As a book editor and also an avid researcher, I was frustrated that there wasn’t any comprehensive publication on the topic, but it was also an opportunity to make it happen. Originally, it was going to be a 400-page book, which is already huge, but halfway through the process I decided it needs to be what it needs to be. It’s a 600-page book with about 1,000 designs. It’s still not comprehensive but it’s a start.
Ѹ:Now, about the exhibit. How did it come to exist?
DN: I am lucky to be friends with Darrin Alfred, and for many years we would go to the Milan Furniture Fair together. Often after, we would go on to see architecture and design in Europe, and I made it an opportunity to shop for vintage flatware design. Darrin casually suggested an exhibition at DAM, but I was flabbergasted when he called and said the exhibition was approved by the director.
Ѹ:Did you work closely with the museum?
DN: It was definitely a collaborative effort, though Darrin took the lead and integrated many designs already in the DAM and the Kirkland. He envisioned the addition of the specialized groupings such as the airline flatware, the travel flatware, the children’s flatware.
Ѹ:What do you want museum visitors to take away from the experience of seeing it?
ٱ:Flatware is so common that it’s often overlooked as a design object. But flatware has always tracked with the design movements of the last 125 years. There was Art Nouveau flatware in 1900, Bauhaus-inspired flatware in the 1920s, Organic Design flatware in the 1950s, Post-Modern flatware in the 1980s, and so on.
It’s as much a design canvas as a building or a chair. It’s also one of the most intimate objects in our lives — how many things do you put into your mouth daily, along with the toothbrush? (And with more pleasure).
Collector Dung Ngo and curator Darrin Alfred will present a public conversation about the exhibit at 11 a.m. on Sept 26.
“Knife Fork Spoon: Everyday Tools, Extraordinary Design” continues through May 2028 at the Denver Art Museum. For info on the exhibit and the upcoming talk: 720-865-5000 or denverartmuseum.org.
Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver-based freelance writer.
