Object of the Day
Discover a different object from the Museum’s collection every day of the week!
Museum curators, conservators, and educators, as well as design enthusiasts like our teen Design Scholars, docents, and Master’s students, are sharing their favorite objects from Cooper-Hewitt’s incredible collection.
Many of these objects will be featured in the expanded collection galleries when Cooper-Hewitt reopens in 2014. Until then, “Object of the Day” is your uniquely-curated corner of the Museum!
Museum Skyphos, a MysteryPosted by Elaine Gerstein, on Friday April 12, 2013The Museum’s skyphos, a small wine cup, is from 5th century BC Apulia in Southern Italy, a Greek region at the time. Skyphos, Apulia, Italy, wine cup, red-figure, terracotta |
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Cat Memes of AntiquityPosted by Katie Shelly, on Thursday April 11, 2013The internet looooves silly cats. This we all know. spanking cat, IDEO, selects, Exhibition, meme, cat, internet, funny |
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Silk BanksiaPosted by Matilda McQuaid, on Wednesday April 10, 2013The natural world is inspiration for British textile designer, Jennifer Robertson, whose jacquard woven Silk Banksia, displays the vibrant color and luminosity of the Australian wildflower, banksia. As the designer states: “The design is an exploration of the poetic language between silk, flora, and human sensorial experience with interior space and the natural environment.” |
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Odalisque ReconsideredPosted by Alex C-M Kelly, on Tuesday April 09, 2013Tadanori Yokoo is a celebrated Japanese artist for his work in graphic design. Yokoo’s posters constitute a unique style of graphic design that is firmly rooted in Japanese tradition while incorporating Western elements that speak to the increasing globalization of Japanese society in the 1960s and 70s. Tadanori Yokoo, poster, Japan, graphic design, ukiyo-e, lithography, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, cosmetics |
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Nothing to ProuvéPosted by Stephanie Keating, on Monday April 08, 2013Born on today’s date in 1901, Jean Prouvé was among the most well-known French designers and architects of the mid-twentieth century. He was the son of Victor Prouvé, one of the founders of l’Ecole de Nancy—an Art Nouveau artist collective. This early exposure instilled in Prouvé the idea that art and industry were inherently linked, a concept he sought to express throughout his career. Jean Prouvé, Victor Prouvé, L’Ecole de Nancy, Art Nouveau, Siegfried Odermatt, Museum für Gestaltung, Erasmus University, prefabrication, industrial materials, Architecture, Rosmarie Tissi, Dutch graphic design, graphic design, poster, offset lithography |
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Lost TribesPosted by Elizabeth Broman, on Sunday April 07, 2013As an undergraduate at Oxford University, Irish antiquarian Lord Kingsborough (1795-1837) became fascinated by the Bodleian Library’s collection of Mesoamerican codices. These vividly illustrated manuscripts painted on animal hide or tree bark were created in the 15th and early 16th by the scribes and priests of Mexico and Central America chronicling the histories, religious beliefs, and scientific knowledge of their ancient civilizations. Antiquities of Mexico, Viscount Edward King Kingsborough, Smihtsonian Libraries, National Design Library, Mexican paintings and hieroglyphics, Indians of Mexico, Lost tribes of Israel |
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Harmonious LinePosted by Gail S. Davidson, on Saturday April 06, 2013With its sinuous curving line, asymmetrical composition, and integration of colors, forms, and lettering, this poster by the Belgian industrial designer, Hendrikus Van de Velde, ranks among the icons of the Art Nouveau movement. In 1898, the General Manager of the Tropon firm, manufacturers of a health supplement developed from egg whites, commissioned Van de Velde to design posters, packaging and other graphic design pieces for the company. Rather than illustrate people consuming the food additive, Van de Velde enticed viewers’ attention by showing egg whites separating f Hendrikus Van de Velde, poster, lithograph, Art Nouveau, Belgium |
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How Can You Not Love That Glove?Posted by Ethan Robey, on Friday April 05, 2013How can you not love that glove? It takes up nearly half the image, so bold yet enigmatic. The gloved hand and the face of the exuberant young woman are likely separate images, brought together—brought into meaning with each other—purely by their adjacency. The photomontage does not quite read as a coherent image, but as a set of concentric ideas, an image more potent than a single photograph of both objects could capture. Herbert Matter, Swiss graphic design, poster, photomontage, Switzerland, Norway, Engelberg, Trubsee, Herbert Bayer, travel |
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RhythmPosted by Kira Eng-Wilmot, on Thursday April 04, 2013Rhythm (1972) is like a visual representation of the movement of sound—the pulsation of music or a heartbeat on an electrocardiogram. In fact, it is the designers’ graphic interpretation of a meandering stream, inspired by the Indiana woodland. This feeling of movement is a product of the design concept promoted by Elenhank Designers, Inc. Elenhank, screenprint, curtain, Indiana, textiles |
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Informal LivingPosted by Cynthia E. Smith, on Wednesday April 03, 2013I sold an almost complete set of chartreuse curry colored American Modern dinnerware two summers ago. It was one of the first items the antique dealers bought when we were clearing out the attic in anticipation of a move. I loathed parting with it because it represented a unique time in American domestic life when Russel Wright was trailblazing “good design for everyone.” Russel Wright, Steubenville Pottery Company, American Modern, table ware |
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