Coffee Service

Description

This dynamic coffee service exemplifies German émigré Albert Feinauer’s unique blend of modernist forms in his designs for the American market. The cylindrical and spherical shapes of the three vessels are indebted to German Bauhaus principles of clean lines and geometric simplicity, while the stepped pattern of right-angle lines, circles, and arcs suggest the fragmented and discontinuous lines of Cubism. Feinauer’s designs for the International Silver Company unfortunately coincided with the devastating stock market crash of 1929, which halted the company’s production of these modern wares.

Provenance

With James P. Infante, New York, by 2004; sold to W. Scott Braznell, Hamden, CT, 2014; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2014.

Coffee Service

Albert Feinauer

1929–30

Accession Number

223080

Medium

Silver plate and cane

Dimensions

Coffeepot: 23.9 × 8.9 × 8.9 cm (9 3/8 × 3 1/2 × 3 1/2 in.); Creamer: 10.6 × 6.4 × 8.9 cm (4 3/16 × 2 1/2 × 3 1/2 in.); Sugar bowl: 6.4 × 14.6 × 9.8 cm (2 1/2 × 5 3/4 × 3 7/8 in.)

Classification

coffee service

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Mary Swissler Oldberg Fund