Elwood North Cornell

comprising coffee pot, creamer, covered sugar and tray

“Gifts of Interest to the Buyer,” Dry Goods Economist, April 7, 1928, p. 102
Jewelers’ Circular, May 19, 1928, p. 10 (for a full-page advertisement by the Middletown Silver company for the “Modernistic” pattern coffee service)
Frederic Saunders, “From Art Nouveau to L’art Moderne,” Jewelers’ Circular, February 21, 1929, p. 109
U.S. Design Patent No. 80,257, for a “Modernistic” pattern coffee pot, filed January 24, 1928, and awarded January 7, 1930
Paola Antonelli, Sitting on the Edge:  Modernist Design from the Collection of Michael and Gabrielle Boyd, San Francisco, 1998, p. 162
Jewel Stern, Modernism in American Silver:  20^th Century Design, New Haven, 2005, pp. 28-30 (for a comparable example of Erik Magnussen’s cubistic “Lights and Shadows of Manhattan” coffee service)
John Stuart Gordon, A Modern World:  American Design from the Yale University Art Gallery, 1920-1950, New Haven, 2011, p. 74

Overall in very good original condition. The metal surfaces throughout with some very minor surface scratches, light rubbing, scattered pitting, very minor tarnishing and a few isolated light discolorations throughout consistent with age and gentle handling. With a few scattered light surface dings to the underbases of each element and to the top edge of the coffee pot's handle consistent with age and contact with adjacent surfaces over time. With one minor localized area of rubbing and loss to the plating extending along the side of the V-shaped edge of the tray, measuring 1 inch in length. A dynamic form showing great movement inspired by Cubist motifs and an attention to the modern architectonic forms associated with the American metropolis of the 1930s.
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.

Elwood North Cornell drew inspiration for this coffee service from the avant-garde Cubist movement concurrently happening in Europe.  His patent for its design in January 1928  precedes the fragmentary and geometric aesthetic  soon seen in other American Modern silver examples, including the “Skyscraper” series coffee and vanities services by Louis W. Rice, produced later in 1928.  The “Modernistic” pattern was developed in the wake of the iconic coffee service designed by Erik Magnussen for the Gorham Company introduced in late 1927 as “The Light and Shadows of Manhattan.” Magnussen referenced the prismatic dynamism of American urban architecture through angular forms—elements seen in this “Modernistic” design by Cornell that in turn enliven Manhattan architecture of the present day.