Coffee Table Designer: Lorin Jackson (American, 1908–1987)
Manufacturer: Rohm and Haas Company, Inc. (American, founded 1909)
Retailer: Grosfeld House (American, active ca. 1930-1975)

1940

American Decorative Arts

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

An interest in Surrealism and classical motifs were in the air for furniture designers when this table was conceived. It melds new plastics technology to a game of hide-and-seek in structure and surfaces. The ribbon-tied rods of the supports recall fasces, a Roman symbol of power. Marjorie Merriweather Post's daughter Nedenia chose this table for her room at Mar-a-Lago, the family's Palm Beach, Florida, mansion.

Medium

Glass, Plexiglas, mahogany, oak, and mirrored glass

Dimensions

16 3/8 × 20 in. (41.6 × 50.8 cm)
other (Glass): 26 1/2 in. (67.3 cm)
other (Narrowst part of base): 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm)

Credit Line

Purchased by exchange with a bequest from Clara Migeon Swayze and a gift from the Associates in Fine Arts

Accession Number

1995.19.1a-b

Geography

Manufactured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Culture

American

Period

20th century

Classification

Furniture

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
Purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post for her daughter Nedenia Post's bedroom, Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Fla., ca. 1940-73; bequeathed as part of the house furnishings to the U.S. Government, 1973-83; transfered as part of the house furnishings to the Marjorie Merriweather Post Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1983-85; sold as part of the house furnishings to Donald J. Trump, New York, 1985-95; Christie's New York, March 30, 1995, lot 187
Bibliography
  • 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), 233, no. 156
  • Christie's New York, New York, Property From Mar-A-Lago Sold By Donald J. Trump, sale cat. (March 30, 1995), 106–7, no. 187
  • "Acquisitions, January 1994–December 1995," Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1995–96), 142, ill
  • Walter Rendell Storey, "New Ideas for the Homemaker," New York Times (April 7, 1940), n.p.
Object copyright
Copyright Artist/Estate/Foundation
In Copyright
Additional information

Object/Work type

coffee tables

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