Like Proust’s madeleines, sponged and spattered dishes evoke childhood memories for antiques experts Leigh (right) and Leslie Keno (left). “When we were kids, our bathroom soap dish was spongeware,” recalls Leigh, editor-at-large for Traditional Home magazine, where he and twin brother Leslie co-produce a regular column entitled “Keno Eye.” In the September ’07 issue, the dynamic duo dish on spatter and spongeware, like the two spongeware pitchers pictured above.

Text by Doris Athineos
Produced by Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno

Photograph: Joe Standart