This past Labor Day Weekend, as Chris and I struggled trying to finish our last post on our 2023 summer trip to Detroit, we decided to do some “freakin’, tiquen”. It’s been a while since we antiqued in Clarence, New York, we decided to take the trip west. After a less than an hour trip we arrived. Because it was the first Sunday of the month, it was “Super Sunday – Great American Garage Sale”. Since only hitting the three mall buildings was my reason for the trip, examining the many dealer tables put me in a surly mood.
Chris checking out the dealer tables at the Antique World Flea Market, Clarence, NY.
After only a cursory look at the flea market, we went inside. Our only purchases in the first two building were chocolate covered dried cherries, candied cashews and two soft drinks. But once I had some sugar in me, my mood improved. As far as antiques went nothing really caught our eyes. So it was onto the last building.
Premier Antique Center, Clarence, New York. Image from antiqueworldmarket.com.
The Premier Antique Center generally has higher quality pieces than the other two buildings. After going through about half the store, Chris noticed a polished chrome, footed centerpiece sitting on the floor, propped up against a case on the floor of one of the booths. Supporting the shallow, chrome bowl are three, circular, transparent yellow (apple juice) Bakelite feet. Engraved in the middle of the bowl is the Roman Goddess Pomona with out stretched arms over a stylized orchard. The chrome rim is serrated and not smooth. It is very striking and very Deco.
Pomona Bowl as Chris found it on the floor at the Premier Antique Center.
The piece has a good weight to it, appears to be of high quality and most surprising – unmarked. With a price tag of over one hundred dollars, while we both liked it, we needed more information. We thought this would be easy, we were wrong. Our Google searches began with Pomona bowl, no luck. Chrome, deco, Pomona bowl, nothing. We did learn that Pomona was the Goddess of fruit trees, orchards, gardens and abundance.
The Pomona Bowl on my dining room table.
Detail of the engraving on the Pomona Centerpiece.
The stylized engraving reminded me of the work of several artists of the 1930s. The first one that came to my mind was Rockwell Kent. Trying to make a connection I immediately thought of Kent’s General Electric Pavillon mural at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.
Rockwell Kent mural for the General Electric Pavillon. Image from miSci-Museum of Innovation & Science.
So we tried searching Rockwell Kent, chrome, deco bowl. Nothing. Next, I thought of Hildreth Meière’s Radio and Television Encompassing the Earth (1932) from the facade of the R-K-O Roxy Theatre.
Hildreth Meière’s Radio and Television Encompassing the Earth (1932), on the 49th Street facade of the R-K-O Roxy Theatre in Rockefeller Center.
I thought the hair in both were similar as well as the attitude of the out stretched arms. And just like with Kent, nothing showed in searching Hildreth Meière and Pomona, Deco chrome. Next up, Lee Lawrie. Arguably Lawrie’s most famous works are Wisdom (1933) or Atlas (1937) both in Rockefeller Center.
Wisdom by Lee Lawrie over the entrance to the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.
Atas (1937) Lee Lawrie in collaboration with Rene Chambellan.
Again no luck with a Lee Lawrie search. Lastly, we looked for a connection with William P. Welsh, whose seasonal covers for the Woman’s Home Companion were familiar to Chris and me.
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- Spring by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest.
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- Summer by William Welsch, 1931. Image from Pinterest.
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- Autumn by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest.
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- Winter by William Welsh, 1931. Image from Pinterest.
And just like all the other searches, nothing came up with Welsh. As the adage goes when buying art or in this case antiques or collectibles, “buy what you love”, so that’s what we did. But we still want to know more about this piece. Here are a couple of more photos of the centerpiece.
Detail of one of the transparent yellow, Bakelite feet and serrated rim.
Unmarked, polished chrome, Art Deco, Pomona centerpiece bowl.
Hey Guys, a stab in the dark here… here in So. California we have a City of Pomona, which is located in the Pomona Valley, just east of Los Angeles. In the 1920’s it was known as “Queen of the Citrus Belt.” And yes, it was intentionally named after the Roman Goddess of fruit. Perhaps what you have is a souvenir of Pomona. Regarding those 3 round feet, to my knowledge, “Bakelite” (1909) was a mixture of wood pulp and a resin binder (phenol-formaldehyde), which would make a transparent product impossible to produce. Catalin was an opaque material as well. The first clear, transparent plastics, known as Acrylic glass, were Plexiglas and Lucite (1931), and were not nearly as widely used as the other two prior to WWII. Perhaps this is a post-war souvenir? I hope this info will provide a clue to help in your search for the artist.
Good Luck!
John