This sterling and vermeil coffee service consists of a sugar, creamer, coffeepot and rhomboid-shaped tray. Each serving piece is also rhomboid in shape with periodic large triangles in gilded silver. The top knob of the coffeepot and sugar bowl are silver and ivory. There are also ivory inclusions on the coffeepot handle to prevent the heat of the coffee from making the handle too hot.

See more objects with the tag cubism, metalwork, faceted, tableware design .

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
0	Work on this object ended.
1927	Work on this object began.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2022	You found it!

Cubic Coffee Service, 1927

This is a Cubic Coffee Service. It was designed by Erik Magnussen and manufactured by Gorham Manufacturing Company. It is dated 1927. Its medium is silver with gilding and ivory.

Erik Magnussen’s Cubic coffee service for Gorham is radically different from the more traditional work he produced independently. Introduced in November 1927 as “The Lights and Shadows of Manhattan,” the set visually connects to skyscraper furniture and objects produced that year.

It is credited Lent by Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, The Gorham Collection. Gift of Textron Inc., 1991.126.488.

A tall angular glass vase with a wide mouth molded in a verdant green color. The vase displays a Cubist aesthetic that resembles faceted quartz.

Ruba Rombic Vase, ca. 1928
mold-blown glass.
Gift of George R. Kravis II.
2018-22-37

A pair of shining, sterling silver cocktail cups -- martini 'glasses' -- with inverted bowls in the shape of a cone, ornamented with a simple, thin line around the rim and the top of the cylindrical stem. The bottom of the stem features short vertical lines which connect to a base of three stepped concentric circles and a flared bottom. The stem appears to pierce the inside of the cone, with a stylized flame-like shape reflecting onto the polished surface of the cup. The identical cups are presented side-by-side.

Pair of Modern American Cocktail Cups Cocktail Cups
silver.
Gift of George R. Kravis II.
2018-22-26-a,b

The topmost part of this two-piece sterling, ivory and ebony candle set is scalloped and open and faces up, like a flower. On each candle cup is a monogram. Scalloped silver is then repeated but this time is facing downward and inward. Carved silver elements are above and below a vertically incised short length of ebony. Like its relative, the matching compote, this includes a small silver design with feathery curves and striated silver points that look something like a rather small loving cup. A wide piece of vertically carved ivory, one of which is quite cracked and yellowed, is above a silver element that has more feathery curves surrounding what looks like a squat pumpkin. This piece ends in silver components: more scalloping and scored balls with two little people or animals one on either side of each ball. Each candlestick sits on a wide, thin and flat round of silver.

Pair Of Candlesticks From A Console Set, 1927
sterling silver, ivory, and ebony.
Lent by Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with a gift from Jacqueline....
65.2016.3a,b

Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.

The topmost part of this compote is wide and made of scalloped sterling. It allows for easy access to the contents. As we work our way down the compote there are two convex rings of silver that lead to a vertically carved, also convex, short length of ebony. The next lower part is a small silver design with feathers and points that looks something like a really small loving cup. Further down, there is a convex length of ivory, scored vertically like the ebony above, but longer. The ivory has yellowed in places and is above a silver element that has more feathery curves surrounding what almost looks like a squat pumpkin. This piece ends in silver components: more scalloping and scored balls with two little people or animals, one on either side of each ball. The compote sits on a wide, thin flat round of silver.

Compote From A Console Set, 1927
sterling silver, ivory, and ebony.
Lent by Yale University Art Gallery, Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, by....
65.2016.4

Its dimensions are

L x W x D: 21.4 × 54.6 × 34 cm (8 7/16 × 21 1/2 × 13 3/8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2oahCe/
Accession Number 51.2016.1a/d
Object ID 907131613