Serving Tray
Photo credit: 9/11 Memorial staff
Accession Number: C.2025.4.1
Dimensions: 7/8 in X 7 3/8 in
Dimensions (Metric): 17.78 cm X 17.78 cm
Dimensions (Metric): 17.78 cm X 17.78 cm
Source: Nicolas Goletto
Credit Line: Gift of Nicolas Goletto
Description
Metal souvenir serving tray. The tray is circular and light blue with an image of the lower Manhattan skyline, including with the Twin Towers on the right. The buildings are rendered in silhouette, lit with yellow lights and foregrounded by the Hudson River. The sky has a dusky hue. "MANHATTAN" is printed in white text at the bottom of the tray. The rim of the tray is rusted in parts. On the back of the tray are several international postage stamps and a handwritten sticker label addressed to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center. The social media handle for Nicolas Goletto is also printed on the back.
Metal souvenir serving tray. The tray is circular and light blue with an image of the lower Manhattan skyline, including with the Twin Towers on the right. The buildings are rendered in silhouette, lit with yellow lights and foregrounded by the Hudson River. The sky has a dusky hue. "MANHATTAN" is printed in white text at the bottom of the tray. The rim of the tray is rusted in parts. On the back of the tray are several international postage stamps and a handwritten sticker label addressed to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center. The social media handle for Nicolas Goletto is also printed on the back.
Historical Notes
Soon after it was built, the World Trade Center, and specifically the Twin Towers, took on iconic status. Although initially criticized for their architecture of "gigantism," the two soaring towers soon became a landmark, looming large in the public imagination as an icon of New York City’s audacity and vitality. They were seen as a symbol of America itself—a place of possibilities and dreams that defied limitation.
The Twin Towers, one of New York City’s most photographed landmarks, were used in marketing, featured on postcards and souvenirs, and appeared in movies and television.
Soon after it was built, the World Trade Center, and specifically the Twin Towers, took on iconic status. Although initially criticized for their architecture of "gigantism," the two soaring towers soon became a landmark, looming large in the public imagination as an icon of New York City’s audacity and vitality. They were seen as a symbol of America itself—a place of possibilities and dreams that defied limitation.
The Twin Towers, one of New York City’s most photographed landmarks, were used in marketing, featured on postcards and souvenirs, and appeared in movies and television.
Curator's Comment
In late September 2024, an unpackaged metal serving platter was delivered to the 9/11 Museum’s offices. On the platter’s backside, various international postage stamps and handwritten sticker labels are attached, one sticker addressing the souvenir to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center and the other listing artist Nicolas Goletto’s social media handle.
Museum staff arranged to speak with Mr. Goletto, a resident of Paris, France, in October 2024 to learn more about the platter’s acquisition and his decision to donate it to the Museum. He explained that he had visited the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in 2017 and was particularly touched by the section of the Historical Exhibition displaying artifacts demonstrating the iconographic power of the Twin Towers, pre-9/11. In early 2024, back in Paris, he came across several objects discarded on a local sidewalk. One proved to be this round metal platter depicting the Twin Towers. He immediately remembered his experience at the Museum and understood the importance of preserving it.
One of Goletto’s artistic projects, titled "Restitutions," involves restoring objects that he has found on the street. Wishing to “repatriate” the platter in a unique way, he chose to send it to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum by mail, without packaging it, and to send it symbolically on September 11, 2024. Goletto remarked that the act of moving the platter from Paris to New York epitomized how people in the postal service “worked together without knowing it,” witnessing at every stage in the transit process the unusual but special nature of the item headed to its final destination. He stated, “This shared determination shows just how important the memory of 9/11 is for each and every one of us.”
HIDE
In late September 2024, an unpackaged metal serving platter was delivered to the 9/11 Museum’s offices. On the platter’s backside, various international postage stamps and handwritten sticker labels are attached, one sticker addressing the souvenir to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center and the other listing artist Nicolas Goletto’s social media handle.
Museum staff arranged to speak with Mr. Goletto, a resident of Paris, France, in October 2024 to learn more about the platter’s acquisition and his decision to donate it to the Museum. He explained that he had visited the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in 2017 and was particularly touched by the section of the Historical Exhibition displaying artifacts demonstrating the iconographic power of the Twin Towers, pre-9/11. In early 2024, back in Paris, he came across several objects discarded on a local sidewalk. One proved to be this round metal platter depicting the Twin Towers. He immediately remembered his experience at the Museum and understood the importance of preserving it.
One of Goletto’s artistic projects, titled "Restitutions," involves restoring objects that he has found on the street. Wishing to “repatriate” the platter in a unique way, he chose to send it to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum by mail, without packaging it, and to send it symbolically on September 11, 2024. Goletto remarked that the act of moving the platter from Paris to New York epitomized how people in the postal service “worked together without knowing it,” witnessing at every stage in the transit process the unusual but special nature of the item headed to its final destination. He stated, “This shared determination shows just how important the memory of 9/11 is for each and every one of us.”
HIDE
