Eliel Saarinen

The Architect and the Industrial Arts: An Exhibition of Contemporary American Design, New York, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1929, p. 61 and pl. 8 (for the prototype of the model)
Stewart Johnson, American Modern 1925-1940: Design for a New Age, New York, 2000, p. 45 (for a related example in the John C. Waddell Collection, now in the permanent collection of Yale University Art Gallery)
Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver, New Haven, 2005, pp. 105 and 353, cat. no. 87 (for the above mentioned related example)
John Stuart Gordon, A Modern World: American Design from the Yale University Art Gallery 1920-1950, New Haven, 2011, pp. 288-289 (for the above mentioned related example)

The present lot is one of only a few examples of the 11-inch version of this design known to exist. Designed by influential Finnish American architect Eliel Saarinen, the centerpiece debuted at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City in 1929 as part of The Architect and the Industrial Arts exhibition organized to showcase the collaboration between manufacturers, architects, craftsmen and designers. Although this was the 11th edition of the series, it is considered a seminal moment in modernist American silver history. The exhibition was unique in that all the objects displayed were created specifically for the exhibition, and were of American conception. As part of a comprehensive dining room design, Saarinen designed a 21 inch handwrought sterling silver footed dish as the centerpiece for the table setting. The exhibition was highly attended and received great praise. Following the exhibition, the American Silver Company put into production the Saarinen centerpiece in multiple sizes in sterling silver. One 15-inch example is in the collection of Yale University Art Gallery, one 13-inch example is in the collection of Cranbrook Academy of Art, and three of various sizes are held in private collections.