"American Modern" Dinnerware
Russel Wright
American, 1904–1976
1937
A set of glazed earthenware tableware Russel Wright designed in 1937 to translate sleek, modernist shapes into affordable, everyday household objects.
The pieces strike you with a soft, speckled gray glaze and gently contoured, asymmetrical silhouettes — a low rounded teapot, three nesting plates, a shallow pouring bowl, and a tall tapered pitcher that read as both organic and industrially made.
American Modern helped democratize modern design by putting stylish, mass-produced ceramics into ordinary homes, shaping midcentury ideas of casual, functional living.
Medium
Glazed earthenware
Dimensions
.1 (bowl): 2 x 5 9/16" (5.1 x 14.1 cm)
.2 (small plate): 9/16 x 6 1/8" (1.4 x 15.6 cm)
.3 (luncheon plate): 3/4 x 8" (1.9 x 20.3 cm)
.4 (dinner plate): 13/16 x 9 13/16" (2.1 x 25 cm)
.5 (water pitcher): 10 3/4 x 6 1/2" (27.3 x 16.5 cm)
.6 (teapot): 4 1/4 x 8 1/2" (10.8 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the manufacturer
Accession
244.1944.1-6
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
