Toaster

Designer Henry Dreyfuss American
1932
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 912
Dreyfuss began his career as a stage designer, and then turned to industrial design. This design for a "Visible Toaster" has a certain theatricality, as one can watch the bread brown through the glass window. The plastic base and handles and the polished chrome body are hallmarks of 1930s industrial design, as is the absence of ornamentation other than striations on the sides of the toaster.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Toaster
  • Designer: Henry Dreyfuss (American, New York 1904–1972 South Pasedena, California)
  • Manufacturer: Birtman Electric Co. (Chicago, Illinois)
  • Date: 1932
  • Medium: Chrome-plated metal, plastic, glass
  • Dimensions: 8 1/4 × 7 7/8 × 4 5/8 in. (21 × 20 × 11.7 cm)
  • Classification: Metalwork
  • Credit Line: John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 2000
  • Object Number: 2000.600.5
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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