The Finger Bowl

The Finger Bowl. . , This outdoor dining pool was the inspired idea of Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, wife of Governor Pinchot., Cornelia worked closely with New York architect William Lawrence Bottomley in the early 1930's to design an intimate social setting for discussing the topics of the time. Politicians, authors and conservationists joined the family around the rim of the pool. Its Italian influence, the canopy and wisteria and grape vines, and the movement of floating food contributed to stimulating conversation., Naomi Nover, a guest of the Pinchot's, described a luncheon served here July 4, 1942. "The food was brought out by the butlers and placed on trays on thick balsa wood rafts. All the food floated. There were several floating rafts on the water going from person to person with the food. One was filled with delicious slices of beef, beautifully garnished. Another raft had a tray filled with vegetables - peas, carrots, potatoes, asparagus, lima beans, tomatoes - exquisitely arranged in groups. Another was filled with cut-up fruit - orange sections, grapefruit, grapes, kumquats, pears, apples, cherries, with a center mound of whipped cream."