"Manhattan" Cocktail Set

Arts of the Americas

Designed 1934–35; produced c. 1939–41

Designed by Norman Bel Geddes (American, 1893–1958)
Manufactured by Revere Copper and Brass Company (American, founded 1801)
Rome, New York

An overt reference to New York City’s skyline, the “Manhattan” cocktail set represents the 1930s fascination with all things modern and urban. The tall, cylindrical cocktail shaker and stemmed cups that echo the shape and design of the shaker cap were sold with a stepped serving tray on which the cocktail service could be arranged like architectural elements. The shaker seen here is the second of two versions and was advertised as “party-size” because of its slightly larger dimensions.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Norman Bel Geddes (Designer)
Title: "Manhattan" Cocktail Set
Place: Rome (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1939–1941
Medium: Chrome-plated brass
Inscriptions: Each piece struck on bottom: "Revere / Rome, NY".
Dimensions: Tray: 1.5 × 37 × 29.3 cm (5/8 × 14 5/8 × 11 9/16 in.); Shaker: 33.4 × 8.1 × 8.5 cm (13 3/16 × 3 1/4 × 3 3/8 in.); Goblets (each, irregular): 11.3 × 6.4 × 6.4 cm (4 1/2 × 2 9/16 × 2 9/16 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Charles C. Haffner III
Reference Number: 2005.50.1-8

Wright, Chicago, Modern Design, sale cat. (Wright, Mar. 20, 2005), 156, lot 270.
Brandy Culp, “New Acquisition,” News and Events: The Art Institute of Chicago (July/August, 2005), 4.
Annual Report (Art Insitute of Chicago, 2004–2005), 22–23 (ill.).
Judith A. Barter, et al., American Modernism at the Art Institute of Chicago, From World War I to 1955 (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2009), 222–24, cat. 102 (ill.).
Judith Barter et al., Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2013), 130, 229, cat. 95, fig. 24 (ill.).
Judith A. Barter, ed. America After the Fall: Painting in the 1930s exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2016), fig. 3, 20.
Judith A. Barter, Elizabeth McGoey, et al., American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), fig. 11 (ill.) 20.

Art Institute of Chicago, Art and Appetite: American Painting, Culture, and Cuisine, Nov. 10, 2013–Jan. 27, 2014, cat. 95; Fort Worth, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Feb. 22–May 18, 2014 (Chicago only).

Wright, Chicago, to 2005; the Art Institute of Chicago, 2005.

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