1999.21, Lotus vase, George Sakier (designer), Fostoria Glass Company (manufacturer), c. 1928

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Conservative forms of Modernism fared better in the everyday consumer products marketplace of the late 1920s and 1930s. As a strategy to combat increased domestic and foreign competition in the 1920s and to revive flagging sales during the depression, many glass and dish manufacturers increased the number of lines they had in production during the interwar years. Unlike producers of ware for restaurants and hotels, makers of dishes for the home believed that increased variety would result in increased sales. Many of these new wares were traditional ones with floral motifs or antique elements, but others like the Lotus vase designed by George Sakier and manufactured by the Fostoria Glass Company, had streamlined shapes and featured geometric or solid-color surfaces.

George Sakier was hired by the Fostoria Glass Company in 1929 as a design consultant and charged with modernizing the firm's lines. A former art director at several important fashion magazines, Sakier was well aware of both European art deco and American streamline styling which were just becoming popular in the United States in the late 1920s. Soon after his arrival, Fostoria was producing Sakier's designs for modernist vases, giftware, barware, and stemware. Products like the Lotus vase that were bold in shape and often striking in color attracted considerable publicity for Fostoria during the depression and helped establish its name as a maker of quality glassware.

Adapted from

Charles L. Venable, China and Glass in America, 1880-1980 (Dallas, Texas: Dallas Museum of Art; New York, New York; Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000), 174 and 360.

NOTES

TMS Updates

I updated Geo Xrefs - constituent place of birth/death

I updated Geo Xrefs - constituent business location

I updated Geo Xrefs - place of origin

updated Provenance

Updated text entry - Object receipt

Catalogue essays

Artist/designers

Sakier_George: ULAN: 500332999

Fostoria Glass Company: DMA

Cultures

Geography

Fostoria (Ohio): TGN: 2079627

Process/materials

Historical periods

20th Century Design: The 1920s

American and European Design - 1920 to 1960

The Impact of Cubism on Art Deco and Streamlined Modern

French Art Deco

20th Century Design: The 1920s

Art Deco

Art Moderne

Individuals

Subject terms

RELATED OBJECTS

PROVENANCE

About 1928: Fostoria Glass Company, Fostoria, Ohio

Until 1999: Eason Eige (independent curator, appraiser and aquisition consultant), Albuquerque, New Mexico [1]

From 1999: Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas [1]

[1] See Dallas Museum of Art Deed of Gift (dated January 9, 1999, copy in Collections Records Object File).

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WEB RESOURCES

PBS American Experience~Read more about Industrial Designers and Streamliners

George Sakier~Read more about industrial designer, George Sakier

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TEACHING IDEAS

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Apply to objects where id equals 5320666

General Description

Conservative forms of Modernism fared better in the everyday consumer products marketplace of the late 1920s and 1930s. As a strategy to combat increased domestic and foreign competition in the 1920s and to revive flagging sales during the depression, many glass and dish manufacturers increased the number of lines they had in production during the interwar years. Unlike producers of ware for restaurants and hotels, makers of dishes for the home believed that increased variety would result in increased sales. Many of these new wares were traditional ones with floral motifs or antique elements, but others like the Lotus vase designed by George Sakier and manufactured by the Fostoria Glass Company, had streamlined shapes and featured geometric or solid-color surfaces.

George Sakier was hired by the Fostoria Glass Company in 1929 as a design consultant and charged with modernizing the firm's lines. A former art director at several important fashion magazines, Sakier was well aware of both European art deco and American streamline styling which were just becoming popular in the United States in the late 1920s. Soon after his arrival, Fostoria was producing Sakier's designs for modernist vases, giftware, barware, and stemware. Products like the Lotus vase that were bold in shape and often striking in color attracted considerable publicity for Fostoria during the depression and helped establish its name as a maker of quality glassware.