World Trade Center "Windows on the World" Restaurant Dinner Plate, Avoided Destruction by Being Used at a Private Dinner Party Right Before 9/11

Part of a dinner service from the World Trade Center's "Windows on the World" restaurant complex, this Deco style porcelain dinner plate was spared destruction because it was used at a private dinner party right before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. White center with blue and yellow white polka-dotted border, 11.75" diameter. Black underglaze back stamp citing its British manufacturer, "Steelite International / Albalite." Isolated scattered light surface scratches or scuffs, else in near fine condition.

From the collection of assassinologist Ronald Hoskins, who, according to his niece, purchased these dishes from a woman who borrowed them from the Windows of the World restaurant for use at a private dinner, and after the tragedy of 9/11 was never able to return them.

The main dining rooms of the "Windows on the World" restaurant complex were located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Originally opened in 1976, the restaurant was temporarily shuttered following the 1993 bomb explosion, renovated, and reopened with great fanfare in 1996; its 25th-anniversary celebrations were slated for October 2001. Prior to its destruction on September 11, 2001, the "Windows on the World" restaurant ranked as the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States, typically serving 800 lavish dinners per night, and attracting many celebrities.

Milton Glazer designed the yellow, cobalt blue, and white porcelain "Windows on the World" restaurant dishware, other examples of which can be seen in the attached archival photos of the restaurant. The dishware included star-, moon-, cloud-, and sun-decorated dinner plates, demi-lune salad plates, dessert plates, soup bowls, and flatware. Glaser's distinctive restaurant logo, dishware, menu design, and select interior decoration elements emphasized the restaurant's spectacular vantage point high above the Manhattan skyline.

There are very few remaining examples of any "Windows on the World" dishware, including a handful of pieces found in the "September 11: Bearing Witness to History" collection at the Smithsonian National Museum of History (see attached photo.) This is because the restaurant, along with all of its furnishings, was obliterated in the collapse of the World Trade Center. It's estimated that approximately 120 restaurant staff and breakfast patrons died in the "Windows on the World" restaurant after Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 am on September 11, 2001, blocking off all exits.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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