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’sRadio 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.
Spring by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest.
Summer by William Welsch, 1931. Image from Pinterest.
Autumn by William Welsh, 1930. Image from Pinterest.
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.
So if any readers of this blog recognize this piece and can provide some information to the artist or the manufacturer, please let us know.
Metropolitan Museum on a rainy day (photo: dreamstime.com)
It was a cool and drizzly day when we headed on our journey to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to meet up with friends. With many special functions going on, we concentrated on the Berenice Abbott Exhibit.
1921 portrait of Berenice Abbott by Man Ray. Image from the Museum of Modern Art Archives.
Berenice Alice Abbott (1898 – 1991) was an American photographer who documented 1930’s urban New York. Born Bernice Abbott, she briefly attended Ohio State University before leaving in early 1918 and moving to New York City. In NY, Bernice studied sculpture and painting. Looking to improve her skills, she travelled to Paris in 1921 and studied sculpture with Emile Bourdelle. It was while in Paris that she adopted the French spelling “Berenice”.
In Paris (1923), the famous photographer, Man Ray, was seeking a darkroom assistant, someone with no previous knowledge of photography. Willing to take on a challenge, Abbott applied for the position and was hired.
Abbott wrote:
“I took to photography like a duck to water. I never wanted to do anything else.”
Taken by her skills, he allowed her to use his studio to take her own photos. Abbott’s subjects were people in the artistic and literary worlds, French nationals, and casual visitors.
Berenice Abbott portrait of James Joyce (1926). Image from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In 1925, Man Ray introduced her to the photographic works of Eugène Atget. Meeting Atget, she persuaded him to sit for a portrait in 1927. He died shortly thereafter and Abbott acquired the prints and negatives remaining in Eugène Atget’s studio at his death in 1927.
Berenice visited New York City in early 1929 and saw the potential that could be captured by photography. By September of the same year, she closed her Paris studio and moved back to New York City.
Over the next decade, she documented the ever-changing landscape of the city as it became a modern metropolis. Her work is a historical record of many now-destroyed buildings and neighborhoods in Manhattan.
Abbott’s album showing the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan. Photo by the authors.
Another page from Berenice’s 1929 photo album of New York City, showing the 9th Avenue El Station and the NYC waterfront. Photo by the authors.
Automat, 877 Ninth Avenue was one of Abbott’s 1930s photographs that was in her 1939 book, Changing New York. Photo by the authors.
Another photograph from Changing New York – Manhattan Bridge Looking Up (1936). Photo by authors.
The culmination of Abbott’s 1930s New York City photographs, Changing New York, 1939, published by E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc. Photo by the authors.
Moving from the Berenice Abbott exhibit, we moved to the Modern and Contemporary Art.
On our way to Gallery 912 (Abstraction), we came across some treasures of Modern America paintings from the 1920s – 1940s. The most impressive, in our opinion, is America Today (1930 – 1931). This massive mural by Thomas Hart Benton (1889 – 1975). Benton, commissioned by the New School for Social Research to paint a mural for the board room of their new building on West 12th Street, designed by Joseph Urban. Even though created at the onset of The Great Depression, the mural, consisting of ten panels, showcasing American industry from the rural South to the industrialized North projects hope and promise. The video below tells the story of the mural’s fascinating history and how it ended up in the Met’s collection.
Chris taking in the “Instruments of Power” panel of Thomas Hart Benton’s massive mural America Today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by the authors.
In addition to America Today, there were three paintings from the interwar period that caught our eye. In chronological order the first was, Edison Mazda (1924), by Stuart Davis (1892 – 1964). Clearly inspired by the cubist works of Pablo Picasso and George Barque, with its use of collage-like composition and flattened space. The artwork of Davis’ has also been describes as proto pop art, with his use of bold and brash colors.
Edison Mazda (1924) by Stuart Davis. Photo by the authors.
The second painting, Georgia O’Keeffe’s (1887 – 1986) The East River from the Shelton Hotel (1928) is the view O’Keeffe had from her apartment window on the 30th floor of the Shelton Hotel. Anthony, being more of a city guy, is fonder of her city scapes than her series of flowers. He loves the way she captures the particular bleak feel of the East River water front and Long Island City on a winter’s day.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s East River from the Shelton Hotel (1928). Photo by the authors.
And then there’s Let My People Go (circa 1935) by Aaron Douglas (1899 – 1979). Douglas, a major graphic artist and muralist of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1920s and 1930s, visually interprets the biblical story of God’s order to Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, in his flat, silhouetted style.
Let My People Go (circa 1935) by Aaron Douglas. Photo by the authors.
While the Berenice Abbott exhibition was the major draw to visit the Metropolitan, their collection of Ruba Rombic glassware were more must see items. This Cubist inspired glass, designed by Reuben Haley (1872 – 1933) in 1928 is one of our favorite.
Collection featuring Ruba Rombic, and cigarette boxes by Donald Deskey and Wolfgang Hoffmann
Collection of items designed by Henry Dreyfuss and Walter Dorwin Teague
Collection of Norman Bel Geddes, Russell Wright, Walter Dorwin Teague, Raymond Loewy
Some of the Metropolitan’s collection of Consolidated Glass Company’s Ruba Rombic glassware. Photo by the authors.
The four pieces (out of seven) on display are, (from left to right) the Whiskey Glass, 10 oz. Tumbler, 9 oz. Tumbler and the Jug, all in the pieces displayed are in Consolidated Glass’ cased, silver color.
Found in Gallery 912 – Abstraction, along with Ruba Rombic, is this group of iconic 1920s and 1930s design. I hate to say it but this “gallery” almost seems like an after thought, off to the side and tucked away, practically underneath a staircase.
From left to right, Birtman electric toaster, Sparton Bluebird (Model 566) Radio, and Westclox’s 1938 “Big Ben” alarm clock. Photo by the authors.
The Birtman Toaster from 1932 (with a window in it so you watch the bread turning brown) and Westclox 1938 version of the “”Big Ben” alarm clock are both designs by Henry Dreyfuss (1904 – 1972). And Sparton’s Bluebird radio is a famous piece created by Walter Dorwin Teaque (1883 – 1960).
Light court of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by the authors.
Our final stop was the American Wing. Set on two balconies surrounding a large light court were examples of early American silver, glass, and ceramics.
Charger made by The Kalo Shop in Chicago, Illinois, circa 1937. Photo by the authors.
“Our America” pottery series by Rockwell Kent for Vernon Kilns, 1939. Photo by the authors.
Prominently featured were glass panels by the Tiffany Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867 – 1959) and George Washington Maher (1864 – 1926) among others.
Autumn Landscape (1923-1924), attributed to Agnes F. Northtrop (1857 – 1953) made by the Tiffany Studios. Photo by the authors.
George Washington Maher Panel (photo: cdn.incollect.com)
Frank Lloyd Wright Panel (photo: Metropolitan Museum)
Deco, or not?
Here is a sweet little pitcher. But is it deco?
Not!
As stated above, it was designed by Hugh C. Robertson and produced by Chelsea Keramic Art Works between 1880-1889.
These were just the tip of the iceberg of the many wonderful pieces in the Met’s collection. If you are in New York City it is certainly worthwhile to spend a day there.