Details

Title

Tray from Diament Tea Service

Artist/Maker

Jean G. Theobald (American, active 1920s-1930s), designer
Wilcox Silver Plate Co. & International Silver Company, Meriden, CT, established 1865, manufacturer

Date

ca. 1928

Medium

Silver-plated nickel and Bakelite

Dimensions

Contact the museum for more information

Credit

Purchase with funds from the Decorative Arts Acquisition Trust

Accession #

1999.91.1

Location

On View - Stent Family Wing, Level 3, Gallery 310

With its smooth walls of silver-plated nickel, geometric elements, and mounts of black Bakelite, this coffee set is a spectacular and quintessential expression of the early Machine Age aesthetic of 1920s America. It is one of three compact services designed by Jean G. Theobald—all of them silver-plated for cost-effectiveness—for an urban market, specifically targeting females with sophisticated, modern taste. Wilcox Silver Plate Company was a subsidiary of the International Silver Company of Meriden, Connecticut, one of the first American silver firms to embrace the modern aesthetic already en vogue in Europe.