A midsummer day’s dream: tableware for picnics and outdoor banquets

Now that the weather has improved, I am much looking forward to lots of picnics, drinks, lunches and dinners in our garden. Any tips on where to find the best tableware?

After a dismal May, I could not be more excited about the prospect of eating outside. “Outdoor dining” sounds rather grand. Yes, I love the idea of a midsummer banquet under the stars, trestle tables heaving with summer produce.

But I find that it’s often the smallest moments that give the greatest pleasure: hurrying into the garden in pyjamas as soon as I’m out of bed, cup of tea in one hand, desperate to check on the roses; a pre-supper gin on folding chairs among the nasturtiums and sweet peas, the sound of clinking ice cubes and birdsong floating on the air.

Of course, for those of us based in the UK summer weather can be precarious, so it’s always worth making the most of the sun when it deigns to grace us with its rays. I’m all for grabbing anything you already have in the cupboards, but it is useful, I think, to have a good kit of tableware and glassware that is more durable than your standard staples.

Plus, sidestepping practicality, we need to celebrate this summer, even if we end up only able to make merry in our back gardens. I advise getting your best plates out and setting your summer table with style.

I am a fan of Liberty’s current range of tableware, and in particular two colourful brands stand out: Hot Pottery and Vaisselle. Hot Pottery is a London-based ceramics company that specialises in traditional splatterware, handmade by artisans in Puglia. I’ve always loved splatterware, but the usual range of colours available leaves me feeling rather bored. Hot Pottery, on the other hand, is splattering all sorts of fun colours on plates, platters and bowls: orange, lilac, green.

Vaisselle, also London-based, produces its ceramics in Spain. I love its Eat Me plate, which comes painted with a 16th-century Spanish-inspired pomegranate design in a shockingly brilliant shade of lemon yellow.

For picnics, I want enamel tableware. Look to Oxford’s Objects of Use, a modern-day hardware store that sells everyday household tools, conscientiously sourced from around the globe. It has a particularly excellent range of enamelware, all made in Ukraine. I love the mugs, jugs and bowls, which come in a variety of good colours, are dishwasher safe and should, I imagine, survive even the rowdiest of summer picnics.

If you’re planning lots of outdoor fun, Objects of Use offers plenty of other interesting bits and bobs (useful, yes, but fun and unique, too): pale blue storm lanterns from Germany, campfire tripods and Dutch ovens to go with them, sets of skittles made in the wood workshops of Botton village in the North York Moors National Park.

These are made by the community’s own managed woodland or timber recycling programme. The wood shop is one of the longest established workshops at Botton, a Camphill centre founded in 1955 to offer supported living opportunities to adults with learning disabilities and other special needs.

What else? Lisa Corti, the Milan-based home textile emporium, designs beautiful and highly colourful pieces that are block-printed in India. The brand is particularly known for its tablecloths. I like its Tiger Flower design very much: a riot of blue and yellow flowers and lilac leaves on a dull orange background. Just the ticket for a summer lunch table.

As for glassware, think vintage. I like old lemonade sets, such as those available from Objects Inanimate in Manhattan. I’m a big fan of this new online shop. Its website declares that the owners like to think that used objects have a soul and stories to tell, and they collect and play with styles, colours and eras. All very up my street.

There is not much nicer than a tray laden with drinks placed at the foot of a tree, or a basket stuffed with strawberries in long grass, à la Charles and Sebastian in Brideshead Revisited. I’ve been eyeing up Belgian interior designer Jean-Philippe Demeyer’s new birch veneer tray for the Swedish brand Svenskt Tenn. It’s a riff on his modern classic design of various illustrated eyes on shimmering gold fabric.

Talking of picnic baskets, any old one will do. I’ve bought several charmingly bedraggled rattan versions from eBay in the past, one with wine compartments and a couple large enough to house a five-course dinner.

I do, however, have my eye on an upgrade: a willow number from Marni, the Italian fashion brand, that has recently launched Marni Market, a collection of limited-edition home accessories at Matches Fashion on Carlos Place in Mayfair. The basket has black, red and blue sections and is probably the chicest basket I’ve ever come across. All I want to do this summer is stuff this lovely basket with baguettes and fizz and saunter on down to the closest river. Cin-cin!

If you have a question for Luke about design and stylish living, email him at lukeedward.hall@ft.com. Follow him on Instagram @lukeedwardhall

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