Artist Name:
Viktor Schreckengost
Nationality & Life Dates:
American, 1906-2008
Title:
"Jazz" Bowl
Date:
1931
Medium:
Porcelain with incised and slip decoration
Dimensions:
12 x 16 1/2 x 16 1/2 inches
Credit Line:
Purchase in honor of Kathi Pierce Rhodes, President of the Members Guild, 1993-94, with funds from the Decorative Arts Endowment
Accession Number:
1993.13
On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway Level, Gallery 401
First commissioned by Eleanor Roosevelt for the governor’s mansion in Albany, this lively, elaborately decorated porcelain punch bowl is one of the original ten designed by Viktor Schreckengost as a special-order item for the Cowan Pottery Studio. The black slip design, glazed in Egyptian Blue—a color developed by Arthur Eugene Baggs for Cowan—uses the sgraffito technique, decorating the bowl with cocktail glasses, dancers, city skylines, and the incised words “jazz,” “dance,” “café,” “follies,” “stop,” and “go.” The design reflects the bustling activity of America’s largest metropolis and became an important symbol of its time.