An overt allusion to New York's skyline, the Manhattan cocktail set represents the 1930s fascination with urbanity and modernity. This tall, cylindrical cocktail shaker and its accompanying stemmed cups can be arranged like architectural elements on the stepped serving tray, which provides a plazalike platform.
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Cocktail shaker
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Cocktail shaker lid
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Artwork Details
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Title:"Manhattan" Cocktail Ensemble
Designer:Norman Bel Geddes (American, Adrian, Michigan 1893–1958 New York)
Manufacturer:Revere Copper and Brass Company, Rome, NY
Date:1935–40
Medium:Chrome-plated brass
Dimensions:1998.537.11a–c (shaker): 13 × 3 3/8 × 3 1/16 in., 1.8 lb. (33 × 8.6 × 7.8 cm, 0.8 kg) 1998.537.12–.17 (cups): 4 1/2 × 2 1/2 in., 3 lb. (11.4 × 6.4 cm, 1.4 kg) 1998.537.18 (tray): 1 × 11 1/2 × 14 5/8 in., 2.4 lb. (2.5 × 29.2 × 37.1 cm, 1.1 kg)
Classification:Metalwork
Credit Line:John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 1998
Object Number:1998.537.11a–c–.18
Marking: (impressed on underside of cocktail shaker; on underside of each cocktail cup; on underside of tray): Revere / ROME / N.Y.
John C. Waddell, New York (until 1998; his gift to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 16, 2000–January 7, extended to February 4, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 85).
Newport Beach, Calif. Orange County Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 25–August 19, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Flint, Mich. Flint Institute of Arts. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," September 14–December 16, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," January 11–April 7, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Charlotte. Mint Museum of Craft and Design. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 3–July 28, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," August 23–November 17, 2002, unnumbered cat.
London. Victoria and Albert Museum. "Art Deco 1910–1939," March 27–July 20, 2003, unnumbered cat. (pl. 32.5).
Toronto. Royal Ontario Museum. "Art Deco 1910–1939," September 15, 2003–January 4, 2004, unnumbered cat.
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Art Deco 1910–1939," March 13–July 5, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Art Deco 1910–1939," September 19, 2004–January 9, 2005, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Curator's Eye: J. Stewart Johnson, 1990–2004," March 1–November 6, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s," September 5–December 10, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 83).
Donald J. Bush. The Streamlined Decade. New York, 1975, p. 141, fig. 133 (unknown collection).
Alastair Duncan. American Art Deco. New York, 1986, p. 87, ill. (Brooklyn Museum collection).
Alastair Duncan. Art Deco. London, 1988, p. 77, ill. (Brooklyn Museum collection).
Stephen Visakay. Vintage Bar Ware: Identification and Value Guide. Paducah, Ky., 1997, pp. 84–85, 87–88, 91, ill. (color; Stephen Visakay collection).
Linda Hales. "From Mainstream to Streamlined America." Washington Post (May 20, 2000), ill. p. C2.
Jeannine Falino inArt Deco 1910–1939. Ed. Charlotte Benton et al. Exh. cat., Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003, pp. 346, 440 n. 14, p. 453, colorpl. 32.5.
Allison Rudnick. Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, pp. 27, 198, colorpl. 83.
Mitchell Abidor. "Hope and Despair in the American Socialist Movements of the 1930s: 'Art for the Millions' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." publicseminar.org. October 2, 2023.
Karen Wilkin. "Yesterday's Tomorrow." New Criterion 42 (December 2023), p. 33.
Norman Bel Geddes (American, Adrian, Michigan 1893–1958 New York)
1938
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