100 USEFUL OBJECTS OF FINE DESIGN [available under $100]
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. [Curator], Ludwig Mies van der Rohe [Exhibition Designer]
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. [Curator], Ludwig Mies van der Rohe [Exhibition Designer]: 100 USEFUL OBJECTS OF FINE DESIGN [available under $100]. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1947. First edition. Six panel folded brochure. 16 pp. Cover illustration by Amendee Ozenfant. Three holes punched to spine edge. Wrappers lightly soiled and faintly creased, but a very good copy. Uncommon.
7.5 x 10 folded hand out 6 page checklist for the 1947 version of MoMA’s annual Useful Objects exhibition, “held on the third floor of the Museum September 17 through November 23. For this year's exhibition—entitled One Hundred Useful Objects of Fine Design 1947—the number of items has been narrowed to make the choice more selective, and the price range extended to afford greater variety in the objects shown.”
“This exhibition was installed by Mies van der Rohe. The design on the cover was especially made by Amédée Ozenfant after his pencil drawing in the Museum Collection.
“Every so often the Museum of Modern Art selects and exhibits soundly designed objects available to American purchasers in the belief that this will encourage more people to use beautiful things in their everyday life. The Museum of Modern Art has held such exhibitions since 1938. This year, for the first time, the number of entries was restricted and the price limit raised steeply. These two changes were made to permit greater variety within stringent standards of design. One hundred objects below $100.00 were selected from the best modern design now available to American consumers. No preference is given to a special material or price. Emphasis is laid on objects of everyday use.
“Certain handmade pieces here are unique or available only in small numbers, yet they typify large groups of items that can be bought in many shops throughout the country. Swedish glassware and handmade pottery for California are good examples of such things. They are shown here together with machine-made aluminum pots and plastic dinnerware because both groups demonstrate the application of sound modern design to objects of daily use. Another strong contrast is evident in the prices. A few cents will buy a cheese slicer of great ingenuity and a rough but noble beauty. With this is shown a silver stamp box whose trim workmanship and perfect elegance is priced at $48.00. Their good modern design brings them together here in the Museum as they might be together in the home of a discriminating purchaser.
“In many shops throughout the country these objects will be identified by signs showing them to be among the 100 objects of the year selected by the Museum of Modern Art.
“We are grateful to the wholesalers, retailers, manufacturers and individuals who generously have loaned their products to this exhibition, and to the following lenders not mentioned elsewhere: R. F. Brodegaard, D. Stanley Corcoran, Finland Ceramics & Glass Corp., Mary Ryan, Rubel & Co., Sun-Glo Studios, A. J. van Dugteren & Sons, George E. Weigl Co.
Includes curatorial information for Bibo" glass tumbler, Kosta, Sweden, $13.30 for 8; Leerdam glass tumbler, $8.70 for 8; Champagne glass by Seneca Glass Co., 6 for $8; ”Pyrex" baking dish, Corning Glass Works, $1; Limoges Dinner Ware, undecorated porcelain, coffee cup and saucer, $30 for 8, demitasse and saucer, $28 for 8, soup plate, $18 for 8, dinner plate, $32 for 8; Eva Zeisel nut dish, made by Riverside Ceramic Co., dish shaped, undecorated porcelain, $1.50; Glidden Parker covered casserole, over-proof pottery, $3.50; F. Carlton Ball coffee or tea pot, stoneware, $20, relish dish, $10, cup and saucer, $6; James Prestini wooden bowls $4-$15; wooden platters, $6.50 and $18.50; Opaque plastic Dinner Ware designed by Jon Hedu and made by Watertown Mfg. Co., dinner plate, $1.50, luncheon plate, $1.20, cup and saucer, $1.50; Earl S. Tupper-designed bowls of flexible plastic, $.39 and $.45; Lazy Susan, 20" clear glass top, ball bearing; $18.50, from P. E. Camerer, St. Paul, Minn.; Salad Fork and Spoon, cowhorn, $15 in leather case; designed by W. D. Phelps; Californian Luncheon Set, heavy linen and linen net, set of 8, $29.50, designed by Jessie E. Daggett, made by Amberg-Hirth; Glass bowl with feather edge, designed by Goran Hongell and made by Karhula, Finland, $45; Footed glass bowl made by Seguso, Italy, $21; Footed glass vase designed by Josef Hoffmann and made by J. & L. Lobmeyr, Austria, $11; Pottery bowl by Gertrud and Otto Natzler, $100; 2-piece Ashtray, cast iron, brass cover, $12, designed and made by Karl Hagenauer, Vienna; 3 stainless steel mixing bowls, designed by Rex A. Stevens and made by Carrollton Mfg. Co., $2.60, $3.60, $9.50; Mixing Bowl, "Wear-Ever" aluminum, made by The Aluminum Cooking Utensil Co., $1; Pressure Cooker designed by W. Archibald Welden and made by Revere Copper & Brass, $15.95; "Dreamline" Dutch Oven Roaster, 4 quart, $3.71, and "Dreamline" 2 quart Chicken Fryer, $3.94, both designed by Don Mortrude and made by Kromex Sales Co.; Cake Pan, aluminum, $.50, made by Mirro Aluminum Goods Mfg. Co.; Salad Basket of metal wire, designed by Sue Urth Irwin, made by Magic Master Products Co., $2.50; Leaf Shaped Spatula, stainless steel, $1, designed by Fred Bryer and made by Freeport Machine Works, Inc.; Chrome Ice Cream Spade, $2,95, made by C. T. Williams Mfg. Co.; Barbecue Fork, black metal, $.40, made by Masite Products Co., designed by Ted Ruhling; "Presto" Cheese Slicer, cast aluminum, $.60, designed by John R. Carroll, made by R. A. Frederick Co.Plywood Jar Opener, $.75, made by Smith Co.; Kitchen Wall Cabinet, metal, $25.75, designed by Raymond Loewy Associates, made by American Central Division -- Avco Mfg. Co.; Charles Eames molded plywood, calico ash screen, $45, Dining Chair, molded plywood, ash, and metal legs, $25, dining table, molded plywood, walnut, $75, made by Evans Products Co. and Herman Miller Furniture Co.; Alvar Aalto 2-tier Table, molded plywood, birch, $42.50, made by Artek, Sweden; Edward J. Wormley Flip-Top Stacking Table, silver elm, $35, made by Drexel Furniture Co.; Jack Heaney Stacking Chair, welted aluminum, canvas, $25, made by Treitel-Gratz Co., Inc.; Red Drapery Fabric, "Devil," cotton and wool, designed by Marianne Strengell, made by Knoll Textile Division, $10.80 per yard; "Klearflax" Linen Rug, 6' x 9', $43.40, designed by Julius H. Barnes, made by The Klearflax Linen Looms, Inc.; Floor Lamp, enameled metal, "Uni-Versen" swivel, $48.60, designed by Kurt Versen and made by Kurt Versen Co.; Floor Lamp, aluminum, Fiberglas shade, $41, designed by Walter von Nessen and made by Nessen Studio, Inc.; Hallicrafter Communications Receiver, Model S-40, designed by Raymond Loewy Associates, made by The Hallicrafters Co., $89.50; Padlock, $.50, made by The Yale & Towne Mfg. Co.; Hunting Bow, magnesium, $27.50, designed by Albin J. Herek and Philip V. Leivo and made by Metal-Lite Products, Inc.;
"Leroy" Scriber, Pen and Lettering Template, $11.20, designed by Francesco Collura and made by Keuffel & Esser Co.; and more.
<b>Edgar Kaufmann Jr. (1910 – 1989) </b> studied painting and typography in Europe before serving as an apprentice architect at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin Foundation from 1933 to 1934. The Kaufmanns of Pittsburgh commissioned two of the iconic American residences of the 20th-century, Wright's Fallingwater in 1936 and then Richard Neutra's Palm Springs Desert House in 1946. Edgar Jr. joined the Museum of Modern Art in 1946 as director of the Industrial Design Department, a position he held until 1955. While at MoMA, he initiated the Good Design program (1950–1955) and was a strong proponent of uniform industrial design education standards.
Here is the Museum of Modern Art release dated September 17, 1947: “One hundred objects of fine design, ranging in price from a black plastic tumbler at 25 cents to a pottery bowl at $100, have been selected by the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, for the 1947 version of its annual Useful Objects exhibition, which will be held on the third floor of the Museum September 17 through November 23. For this year's exhibition—entitled One Hundred Useful Objects of Fine Design 1947—the number of items has been narrowed to make the choice more selective, and the price range extended to afford greater variety in the objects shown.
“The exhibition, selected by Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., Director of the Museum’s Department of Industrial Design, has been especially installed by Mies van der Rohe, internationally famous architect, in conjunction with his one-man exhibition which opens simultaneously.
“All of the items shown in the Useful Objects exhibition are for sale in retail shops and stores in New York and other parts of the country. Wherever these objects are displayed each manufacturer is permitted to distinguish his object with the phrase: "Selected by the Museum of Modern Art as One of the Useful Objects of Fine Design 1947."
“In commenting on the exhibition and its purpose Mr. Kaufmann has said: "Every so often the Museum of Modern Art selects and exhibits soundly designed objects available to American purchasers in the belief that this will encourage more people to use beautiful things in their everyday life. This year 100 objects priced up to $100 were selected from the best modern design now available to American consumers. The Museum of Modern Art has held similar exhibitions since 1938.
“This year for the first time the number of entries was restricted and the price limit raised steeply. These two changes, were made to permit greater variety within stringent standards of design. No preference is given to a special material or price. Emphasis is laid on objects of everyday use.
“Certain handmade pieces here are unique or available only in small numbers, yet they typify large groups of items that can be bought in n.my shops throughout the country. Swedish glassware and pottery from California are good examples of such things. They are shown here alone with machine-made aluminum pots and plastic dinnerware because both groups demonstrate the application of sound modern design to objects of daily use.''
“In this year's, exhibition, furniture plays a more prominent role than formerly. Charles Eames, who was given a one-man furniture exhibition at the Museum in 1946 will be represented by a molded plywood screen, chair and dining table. Alvar Aalto, who in 1938 had a one-man show at the Museum, is the designer of three pieces an arm chair, a two-tier table, and a wall desk—imported from Sweden as his furniture is no longer manufactured in the United States. Other furniture includes a hanging metal kitchen cabinet and a radio by Raymond Loewy Associates, a table-bench and ottoman by Hendrik van Keppel, and Edward J. Wormley’s flip-top table. In ratio to its size, a "stacking" chair of black-painted aluminum tubing with canvas back and seat designed by Jack Heaney is undoubtedly the lightest object in the exhibition—4 pounds, 4 ounces. Half a dozen of these chairs stacked one on top of another would weigh not much more than an ordinary side chair.
“To encourage importers to bring into this country useful objects of superior design the exhibition shows a number of foreign make. Among these are an Italian glass bowl and two sets of glass tumblers, glassware from Sweden, Holland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria and dinnerware of undecorated porcelain comes from Limoges, France. Notable among the domestic objects is the new plastic dinnerware. From Langbein come large bowls of opaque plastic in black or white and black or white dinner plates. Dinnerware of an opaque heliotrope blue designed by Jon Hedu is extremely heavy with bevel-edged plates, bowls, and saucers. A black plastic tumbler designed by Thomas Higgins has the advantage of a heavy base rounded on the inside and flat on the outside.
“Among the miscellaneous objects is a uniquely modern stamp box from Cartier, Inc. Within the severely simple case of sterling silver are three spokes for spools of stamps which can be played out through narrow slits in the side of the box without lifting its lid. The interior of this extremely elegant practical stamp box is gilt washed. Something new in the design and use of material is offered in P.E. Camerer’s Lazy Susan, its top a 20-inch clear glass disc set to turn on a ball-bearing metal base. Also included are lamps, textiles, bean pots, wooden bowls and platters, vases of glass, pottery and pewter, mixing bowls of aluminum, carving and steak knives, stoneware, a stainless steel pitcher, black metal barbeque fork, and an ice cream spade of chrome steel.”