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Image features a drawing of Inspiration Point, Riverside Drive with cars and pedestrians. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Moments of Inspiration
At the turn of the twentieth century, architectural projects throughout New York City were designed to prescribe how citizens interacted with nature. Study for Inspiration Point, Riverside Drive, New York City is a conceptual plan by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (1822—1903) and architect Arnold William Brunner (1857—1925) for the development of a park and recreation...
Image features a conical pitcher, molded to resemble a tree trunk, the handle in the form of a gnarled branch. Body glazed with a light blue ground decorated with brown branches bearing white and yellow blossoms. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Spring Blossoms: Eastern Beauty Inspires Western Art
Searching through the collection, looking for something different to write about, I came across this lovely ceramic pitcher which features an exterior molded to resemble a tree trunk, branches with blossoms, and a gnarled branch handle. It captured my interest because its motif and colors are particularly evocative of Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, The Almond...
Image features tall, slender, slightly cylindrical vase with globular shoulder, no neck, incurving rim; no foot. Design of tall flowers (stylized carnations) and curving leaves that rise up onto the shoulder. Beneath and between these are smaller flowers and leaves. A few random dots on top of shoulder. Decoration in metallic lustres on an iridescent ground, in shades of peacock blue, lavender, crimson, and green against a copper glaze ground. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Flowers Bloom amidst a Field of Iridescence
To celebrate the opening of Iridescence, on view through March 24, 2019, Object of the Day this week will feature iridescent objects in the collection. This vase with its shimmering colors and fluid lines was designed by Jacques Sicard for the Weller Pottery between 1902 and 1907. It was created using gray-white clay and is...
A pitcher of squat bulbous gourd form with a large leaf-shaped spout and handle in the form of a gathered root or vine; green and gold iridescent luster finish.
Eosin, from “Eos”- Greek Goddess of Dawn
To celebrate the opening of Iridescence, on view through March 24, 2019, Object of the Day this week will feature iridescent objects in the collection. This turn-of-the-twentieth-century leaf-form pitcher utilizes the innovative eosin reduction glazing technique developed and trademarked by the Hungarian porcelain firm Zsolnay only a few years earlier. Lusterware, which had been revived...
Image features a view of Storm King Mountain from across the Hudson River. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
From Nature
This drawing is signed “From Nature, by E. Whitefield” and depicts a view of Storm King Mountain from across the Hudson River on the base of Breakneck Ridge. Today it is possible to visit the same viewpoint where Edwin Whitefield sketched the composition and admired the beauty of the landscape. Edwin Whitefield was born in...
Image features button in the form of an open-topped wooden crate containing four pears in tones of yellow to pink, with two narrow green leaves interspersed among them. Pease scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Juicy Pears
In celebration of The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post takes a multisensory approach to an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Jelly candies in the form of fruit? Toys for children? Miniatures? This whimsical and colorful object is actually a button made of celluloid plastic. In an open-topped crate, a...
Image features basic circular form with raised shaped rim, indentations in rim; light brown glaze. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Organic Ashtray
In celebration of our new exhibition, The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Traditionally formed by hand, ceramic vessels possess inherent organic characteristics. Their forms have often been influenced by or imitated the shapes of human bodies since the...
A Very Functional Form
This verrière defines the classification of objects we call decorative arts: something that is both beautiful and functional. The function of the verrière is to cool wine glasses by inverting them and resting the feet and stems on the curved rim of the vessel, with the bowls immersed in cold water or ice. This type...
Desk Ware from a Simpler Time
In this age of electronic assistants, it is hard for many to fathom a time when telephone service was limited and mail, or what today is referred to as “snail mail”, was the order of the day. During the early decades of the twentieth century written letters were the most common form of communication, and...