
“How British Silversmithing Shaped our Dining Tables” by Carolyn Tillie
When holidays approach, will you pull out your Grandmother’s silver for the banquet table?
In this engaging presentation, Carolyn Tillie will walk us through the history and advances in British metalworking trades and techniques and their influence on silversmiths worldwide. With an emphasis on travel equipage from the 18th and 19th centuries, she will discuss the invention of Old Sheffield Plate in 1743 through the rise of electroplate, and sharing examples from her expansive collection, will bring us into the Victorian and Edwardian eras with their novelty and specialty cutlery, from asparagus, anchovy, lemon, and oyster forks to bonbon, jelly, mote, and olive spoons.
10:30am, May 20, 2023
Neil Morgan Auditorium
San Diego Central Library
330 Park Blvd
San Diego, CA 92101
About Carolyn Tillie
Carolyn Tillie specializes in food-themed jewelry and artwork as well as being a published culinary historian. She has an MFA in jewelry and metalsmithing from California State University, Long Beach, as well as a Certified Master Chef certificate from Epicurean School in Los Angeles and the Level Two certification from the Wine Spirit Education Trust. After writing Oyster, A Global History for Reaktion Press, she curated several art exhibitions in conjunction with the release of her 2019 book, A Feast for the Eyes – Edible Art from Apple to Zucchini. Currently working on her third book on Aphrodisiacs with noted historian Ken Albala, she is co-founder of Bay Area Culinary Historians, and has presented several papers at the Oxford Food Symposium.
About the Culinary Historians of San Diego
Culinary Historians of San Diego (CHSD) is a nonprofit organization that provides the public with a history of food and drink and their roles in society, both locally and worldwide. Membership in this non-profit organization supports both CHSD activities and the culinary collection of the San Diego Public Library.

Image, “The End of Dinner” by Jules-Alexandre Grün, 1913, Musee des Beaux-Arts.
Speaker
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Carolyn TillieAuthor, Speaker
About Carolyn Tillie
Tillie is a freelance writer, exhibiting artist and curator. She has written for a number of wine industry magazines, the Napa Register, and Metalsmith magazine.In 2017, she published her first book, Oyster: A Global History. Carolyn’s food-inspired jewelry has been sold in galleries all over the world, and she is now curating food-themed art exhibits to accompany the release of her second book, A Feast for the Eyes: Food Art from Apple to Zucchini.