This red glazed earthenware pitcher is one of fourteen colorful pieces of Fiesta ceramic tableware objects that came to Cooper-Hewitt in 1991. Designed by English potter Frederick Hurten Rhead in 1936 for the American manufacturer Homer Laughlin Pottery Co., the Fiesta dinnerware collection was an instant success with the ceramic industry and the housewives of...
Whether it is fulfilling a holiday gift list, preparing for the first days of school, or even navigating a busy grocery store, most people have experienced the exhaustion of shopping. A sole lounge chair or bench in a store is often a welcome respite, an oasis for tired feet, and heavy bags. The German artist...
This large hand-painted circular plate, measuring 13 9/16” in diameter, represents a period of Russian history during Stalin’s regime, where state sponsored porcelain products were used to promote the accomplishments of Russian society and culture and helped to play an important role in the official Party’s Soviet state propaganda campaign. As indicated by the mark...
Designed in 1956 by Dieter Rams for the German consumer products company, Braun, the SK4 Turntable/receiver is an exemplary modern design object that continues to look fresh and contemporary, despite its antiquated technology. Unlike the traditional wooden turntable boxes that came before, this simple, yet sophisticated rectangular design is made of a white metal housing...
The Savoy vase (ca. 1936-37) by Finnish architect and designer, Alvar Aalto (b.1898-d.1976), is a unique, organic shape in glass, that exemplifies the designer’s vision of Finnish modernity and has become a national symbol for the nature and culture of modern Finland. Beginning in the early 1930s, Aalto turned his focus away from architecture...
Introduced by Finnish furniture manufacturer Asko Oy in 1968, Eero Aarnio’s “Pastilli” rocking chair—sometimes called the “Gyro” or “Rock ‘N’ Roll” chair—epitomizes the turbulent, unconventional era of the late Sixties. The world at that time was changing dramatically, and Aarnio’s designs broke away from the square furniture shapes and mid-century curves of the previous decade...
Winslow Homer’s 1873 oil painting titled, Sunlight and Shadow—In the Hammock, depicts an idyllic scene of tranquil bourgeois leisure in a pastoral setting. The scene portrays a young middle-to-upper class woman, indicated by her well-maintained white dress and refined shoes, reading peacefully in a hammock. Stretching from one end of the canvas to the other,...
This very high-quality wallcovering, produced by the New York firm Leissner & Louis, ca. 1872-78, is woodblock-printed on embossed paper, demonstrating a well-executed design and of equal quality print. A note on this object states “From Bush House, Salem, OR, built 1877-78,” which may have been written on the back of the wallpaper, however, the...
