Compote from a Console Set Maker: Erik Magnussen (Danish, 1884–1961)

1927

American Decorative Arts

On view, 3rd floor, Modern and Contemporary Art and Design

The 1925 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris brought international attention to a new, modern style in design. Among the craftsmen working in this mode was Erik Magnussen, born and trained in Denmark. When the Gorham Manufacturing Company brought Magnussen to America in 1925, he already had an international reputation. Gorham charged the Dane with developing a line of modern silver tablewares for the firm. The American public was slow to embrace modernism, thus the designs were not commercially successful. Magnussen left Gorham in 1929. This vessel bears Magnussen's monogram, suggesting that it was one of his more experimental designs. The lavish and stylized compote shows the influence of Scandinavian modernism; the ornate stem incorporates ivory and ebony, while the bowl is in the form of a flaring, lobed trumpet flower.

Medium

Sterling silver, ivory, and ebony

Dimensions

11 1/8 × 10 5/8 in. (28.3 × 27 cm)

Credit Line

Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, by exchange

Accession Number

2002.34.1

Geography

Made in Providence, Rhode Island

Culture

American

Period

20th century

Classification

Containers

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
Sale, Ivey-Selkirk Auctions, Saint Louis, April 19, 2002, lot 36; sold to the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn., April 19, 2002
Bibliography
  • Sarah D. Coffin, Stephen Harrison, and Emily M. Orr, The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s, exh. cat. (Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2017), 287, 352, no. 240, fig. 352
  • Patricia E. Kane, "Erik Magnussen: Masterpieces Revealed," Antiques and Fine Art 13, issue 2 (Summer 2014), 154–158, fig. 1, 6
  • John Stuart Gordon et al., A Modern World: American Design from the Yale University Art Gallery, 1920–1950 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2011), 22, no. 3
  • Art for Yale: Collecting for a New Century, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2007), 106, pl. 93
  • "Acquisitions 2002," in "The Original Work of Art: What It Has to Teach," special issue, Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (2003), 144, ill
  • "Black Starr and Frost-Gorham, Inc.," Town and Country 84 (March, 1930), 71, ill
Object copyright
Copyright Artist/Estate/Foundation
In Copyright
Additional information

Object/Work type

compotes

Marks

“em / sterling / 4 / 1927,” incuse\r\non underside of foot ring

Technical metadata and APIs

IIIF

Open in Mirador

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