Paul Lobel

comprising coffeepot, sugar, creamer and tray

Presented as a wedding gift to Frances Alice Davidson and William Charles Sonnhalter, Cleveland, OH, 1938
By descent to daughter Susan Marie Sonnhalter Niedzwiecki, circa 1970s
By descent to the present owner, 1985

Contemporary American Industrial Art: Thirteenth Exhibition, exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1934, n.p. (for the prototype of the complete tea service, present whereabouts unknown)
Richard Guy Wilson et al., The Machine Age in America 1918 – 1941, New York 1986, p. 310 (for the complete service in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Claude Balir, ed., The History of Silver, New York, 1987, p. 211 (for the partial service in the collection of Carole Stupell)
J. Stewart Johnson, American Modern 1925-1940: Design for a New Age, New York, 2000, cover and p. 107 (for the complete service in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Jewel Stern, Modernism in Silver: 20th Century Design, New Haven 2005, pp. 110-116 (for the complete service in the John C. Waddell Collection, promised gift to Yale University Art Gallery)
John Stuart Gordon, American Design from the Yale University Art Gallery 1920-1950, New Haven 2011, pp. 266-267 (for the complete service in the John C. Waddell Collection, promised gift to Yale University Art Gallery)

Overall very good condition. This service has been recently professionally conserved by a leading silver restorer. The surfaces have been cleaned and a few scattered minor dings were sensitively removed and the original smooth surfaces restored. There were also a few minor plating losses and areas of rubbing which were sensitively covered by a sponge-applied spot-plating technique. The service presents beautifully in person with a few minor surfaces scratches, minute areas of pitting and a few minor edge nicks to the tops which are consistent with age and gentle use. The tray with a few scattered areas of isolated minute lifting to the plating concentrated around the central riser. When viewed in person, these piece each display with a consistently smooth and shiny surface. The surfaces appear slightly dull in the printed catalogue illustration which is not an accurate depiction. Please contact the 20th Century Design department for additional images of this rare service. Each of the four pieces included in the offering with engraved monogram, not visible in the catalogue illustration. The present lot is an extremely rare offering and one of only three complete examples of this iconic service known to exist.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1934, Paul Lobel exhibited two ground-breaking modernist prototypes, a tea service and a cocktail shaker, in the Contemporary American Industrial Art exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The tea service with its balanced attention to the minimalist modern design aesthetic and function, has come to embody the artistic ideals of the American modernist design of the period.

The juxtaposition of the spherical shape and streamlined planar finials find an unexpected symmetry across the pieces and tray.  The stylistic references included in the service are varied, as Jewel Stern suggests in Modernism is Silver:  20^th Century Design, including both aeronautics and possibly an inspiration in form dating to an earlier design by Jean Puiforcat.  Following the 1934 exhibition, Wilcox Silver Plate Company, a division of International Silver, introduced a production coffee service. The production examples varied from the prototype in materials as the later works were executed in silver-plated metal, rather than sterling silver, and the handle design was changed from catalin to plated silver with a wooden insulating disc. 

The location of the prototype from the 1934 exhibition is unknown and there are four known extant examples of Wilcox production:  a complete service is in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of the Art, a second complete service is a promised gift from the collection of John C. Waddell to the Yale University Art gallery, a third partial set is in the collection of Carole Stupell and Sotheby’s sold an individual coffeepot in December 2011.