GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The precise circular geometry of this diminutive box represents a dramatic aesthetic shift for American design in the 1920s and a bold departure for its maker, metalsmith Rebecca Cauman. A glass disk rises vertically within a pewter ring flanked by two smaller pewter disks, all resting upon a gently domed lid sectioned into eight parts by incised lines radiating from its center. The short circular drum of the body is supported on four small spherical feet echoing the circular motif of the lid. Although best known for her earlier enameled copper wares in the Arts and Crafts mode, this box design represents Cauman's earliest and most aggressive foray into the reductive geometry of 1920s design.
Drawn from
- Kevin W. Tucker, DMA unpublished material, 2006
- Janet Kardon, Craft in the Machine Age: The History of Twentieth-Century American Craft, 1920-1945 (New York: Abrams, 1995)
NOTES
Geo Xrefs - place of origin
Provenance
Most sources regarding this designer note that she was born in 1872 with an unknown death date. However, in TMS her birth and death dates are listed as (1887-1964). That information in TMS needs to be reviewed for accuracy. I therefore did not update the birth or death date in TMS.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
About 1925: United States
After 1925: possibly in an estate sale New Orleans, LA [1]
n.d.: Antique shop in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, possibly purchased from above estate sale in New Orleans, LA [1]
Until 2006: Marbeth Schon-Tilden of M. Schon Antiques, Waveland, Mississippi, purchased from antique shop in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi [1][2]
From 2006: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Marbeth Schon-Tilden of M. Schon Antiques, Waveland, Mississippi on June 9, 2006 [1][2][3]
[1] According to email correspondence (May 30, 2006) between Marbeth Schon-Tilden and Kevin W. Tucker, The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
[2] According to the following document found in the DMA object file: Kevin W. Tucker, The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, DMA Acquisition Justification (2006.20.a-b), May 15, 2006
[3] According to the following documents found in the DMA object file: DMA Acquisition Consideration form (February 28, 2006), DMA Object Receipt (March 17, 2006), DMA Committee on Collections Agenda (May 24, 2006), DMA Committee on Collections record (May 24, 2006), DMA Purchase Order (June 5, 2016), DMA check #12467 to Marbeth Schon-Tilden (June 9, 2006)
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where id equals 5327681
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
The precise circular geometry of this diminutive box represents a dramatic aesthetic shift for American design in the 1920s and a bold departure for its maker, metalsmith Rebecca Cauman. A glass disk rises vertically within a pewter ring flanked by two smaller pewter disks, all resting upon a gently domed lid sectioned into eight parts by incised lines radiating from its center. The short circular drum of the body is supported on four small spherical feet echoing the circular motif of the lid. Although best known for her earlier enameled copper wares in the Arts and Crafts mode, this box design represents Cauman's earliest and most aggressive foray into the reductive geometry of 1920s design.
Drawn from
- Kevin W. Tucker, DMA unpublished material, 2006
- Janet Kardon, Craft in the Machine Age: The History of Twentieth-Century American Craft, 1920-1945 (New York: Abrams, 1995)
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Geo Xrefs - place of origin
Provenance
Most sources regarding this designer note that she was born in 1872 with an unknown death date. However, in TMS her birth and death dates are listed as (1887-1964). That information in TMS needs to be reviewed for accuracy. I therefore did not update the birth or death date in TMS.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Cultures
Geography
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
About 1925: United States
After 1925: possibly in an estate sale New Orleans, LA [1]
n.d.: Antique shop in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, possibly purchased from above estate sale in New Orleans, LA [1]
Until 2006: Marbeth Schon-Tilden of M. Schon Antiques, Waveland, Mississippi, purchased from antique shop in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi [1][2]
From 2006: Dallas Museum of Art, purchased from Marbeth Schon-Tilden of M. Schon Antiques, Waveland, Mississippi on June 9, 2006 [1][2][3]
[1] According to email correspondence (May 30, 2006) between Marbeth Schon-Tilden and Kevin W. Tucker, The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
[2] According to the following document found in the DMA object file: Kevin W. Tucker, The Margot B. Perot Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, DMA Acquisition Justification (2006.20.a-b), May 15, 2006
[3] According to the following documents found in the DMA object file: DMA Acquisition Consideration form (February 28, 2006), DMA Object Receipt (March 17, 2006), DMA Committee on Collections Agenda (May 24, 2006), DMA Committee on Collections record (May 24, 2006), DMA Purchase Order (June 5, 2016), DMA check #12467 to Marbeth Schon-Tilden (June 9, 2006)
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
id
Equals
5327681
source file
object_notes_4_a-0156.xml.nores