An original Dodie Thayer tureen, surrounded by other pieces from the artist’s own collection. (Post photo/Bruce Bennett)
Dodie Thayer could have been the Lilly Pulitzer of pottery.
From the 1960’s through the 80’s, Thayer’s bright green pottery was as much a part of the Palm Beach look as Lilly Pulitzer dresses and Palm Beach sandals.
It seemed that every society hostess had a collection of Thayer’s bright green Lettuce Ware, which the daughter of Palm Beach County pioneers made by hand in her Jupiter garage.
Tory Burch’s reissue of Dodie Thayer’s collection include plates and cups and sauces, but none of the intricate tureens and tea pots.
(submitted)
Now, Designer Tory Burch has re-issued Thayer’s earthenware for a new generation. Called “Dodie Thayer for Tory Burch,” pieces start at $88 for a set of four canape plates.
Tory Burch talks to Dodie Thayer at the designer’s home on the Loxahatchee River. (submitted)
Thayer displays her lettuce ware at a Palm Beach shop, in this 1970’s photo. (courtesy Dodie Thayer)
From the late 1960’s through much of the ’80’s, having a Dodie Thayer tureen on your buffet was a status symbol. Her pieces were featured in photo shoots in Home and Garden, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Bon Apetit and Gourmet.
Tastemakers from Jacqueline Kennedy to CZ Guest, the Duchess of Windsor and Dina Merrill collected sets. Queen Elizabeth dined on Lettuce Ware during a visit to the U.S. in 1986.
Actually, the name is a misnomer. Thayer’s designs are based on cabbage leaves, a vegetable Palm Beach shops deemed too common for their customers. They insisted she call her line, “Lettuce Ware.”
An original teapot from Thayer’s own collection. (Post photo/Bruce Bennett)
While Pulitzer went on to create her signature “pink-and-green Lilly lifestyle,” Thayer always refused to mass market her work, until Burch came calling two years ago.
Her parents, Bessie and John DuBois, for whom DuBois Park is named, ran a fish camp on the Jupiter Inlet. Shunning the social scene, the very private Thayer preferred the quiet of her home on the Loxahatchee River, where she raised five children on the proceeds of her pottery.
In a 2010 photo, Thayer shows off one of her large platters. (Post photo/Bruce Bennett)
She lives there still, in an unusual house cantilevered over the water, whose living room floor has a glass window looking down at her beloved river.
“Dodie Thayer for Tory Burch” lettuce ware is available through toryburch.com or at the Tory Burch Palm Beach store, 150 Worth Avenue.
