Centerpiece
In the years 1930–31, Peter Müller-Munk began to gain critical acclaim for his modernist silver after being included in the exhibition "Decorative Metalwork and Cotton Textiles The Third International Exhibition of Contemporary Industrial Art," organized by the American Federation of the Arts. The exhibition travelled to four cities including New York, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and prompted the French critic C. De Cordis to feature Müller-Munk in La Revue Moderne Illustrée des Arts et de la Vie. The critic praised his work for a purity of form, links to nature, and simplicity of proportion. The four applied ribs serve as decorative accents that unify this centerpiece’s base and body. Eventually shifting from silver to steel and other new materials and technologies, Müller-Munk would continue to make important contributions to American design as an associate professor at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and through his industrial design firm Peter Müller-Munk Associates (PMMA).
Artwork Details
- Title: Centerpiece
- Designer: Peter Müller-Munk (American (born Germany) Berlin 1904–1967 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
- Date: ca. 1931
- Medium: Sterling silver
- Dimensions: 5 × 19 × 6 in., 1.6 lb. (12.7 × 48.3 × 15.2 cm, 0.7 kg)
- Classification: Silver
- Credit Line: Gift of Jacqueline Loewe Fowler, 2020
- Object Number: 2021.54.36
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Peter Müller-Munk
ca. 1931
Peter Müller-Munk
1931
Peter Müller-Munk
1931
Peter Müller-Munk
1931
Peter Müller-Munk
1931
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.