FINDS

Blue Plate Specials

There’s more than one way to set a Seder table and there are Seder plates for every style. The only requirement: space on the plate for the required symbolic foods of the ceremony. Blue is traditional, most often with white, as in the Villeroy and Boch “Precious Legacy” plate, above, from the Czechoslovak State Collections.

But blue comes in many shades. A deep indigo sets off the pomegranate design of the plate designed by Massachusetts-based Russian artist Katya Apekina, top right. And artist Vicki Stone chose a dusty blue as the background for her lively depiction of Moses’ exile from Egypt, right--yes, her interpretation of the biblical desert includes some very California-looking cactuses.

Vicki Stone plate, $265, at the Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles. Villeroy and Boch plate, $270, and Katya Apekina plate, $575, at Audrey’s Gift Shop in the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.

Silk and Matzo

On every Seder table three matzos must be placed in a matzo holder or simply on a plate covered by a napkin. The napkin or matzo holder doesn’t have to be fancy--on the other hand, this vivid silk matzo holder, hand-painted by Israeli artist Orna Zemer, with accents of liquid gold, would add a splash of beauty to the table.

Matzo holders $90 to $95 in Audrey’s Gift Shop at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles.