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Around with

the Art

House Deco

By Donald-Brian Johnson • Photos by Leslie Piña Sssssscintillating. Sandoz Cobra Vase, 1928.

“Art Deco was the last truly sumptuous style.”

– Alastair Duncan, Art Deco, 1988

rt Deco. It isn’t all black and white. Or zigzags
and chrome. Or uncluttered lines and
A uncompromising furniture.
Often, how we view the past is dependent upon
what’s available for viewing today. We see Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers click-clacking their way through a
1930s movie musical. He’s in a sleek black tuxedo.
She’s in flowing white satin. There’s a gleaming black
dance floor, framed by white draperies hung with
geometric precision. Surrounding it, at tiny,
uncomfortable-looking cocktail tables, are formally
attired partygoers (in black and white, of course). The
movie itself, as you may have guessed, is also in
black and white. Deep, rich, impenetrable blacks.
Unsullied, blazing, eye-averting whites. The cinema-
Art Deco in black and white: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers tography captures both the darkest and brightest
kick up their color-free heels, in the elements of each extreme. And there it is: tangible “The gift supreme – really
“Cheek To Cheek” number from Top Hat (RKO, 1935). evidence of a world where everything is black and distinctive.” An array of brushed
Iconic 1930s movies, like this one, fostered our silvery perception white. And we say to ourselves, “well, that’s Art Deco.” aluminum ware was created
of the “Art Deco look.” Except that it isn’t, or at least it isn’t all the time. by Lurelle Guild for Kensington,
Although black and white were important elements, circa 1934.
the Art Deco era was also alive with a riot of color.
Designers and decorators offered up a unique blend of the traditions of the past (such
as the recently departed, softer-edged Art Nouveau), with the “streamlined” design
innovations of the present (the last years of the Roaring ‘20s, through the Depression-
bound days of the 1930s). The rich, jeweled tones of a Schneider vase … the smudged
earthen, gold-studded hues of a Tharaud bowl … the startlingly bright color
juxtapositions of a Sandoz tea set … the whimsically bold palette of a Robj decanter

Fred and Ginger again, but as their ‘30s film fans never saw them: Libby-Owens-Ford suggested a dining table For the center of the table: a stunning compote,
in living color. Although Top Hat was in black and white, its covered in blue mirror glass, noting “mirrored designed for Chase by Walter Von Nessen. The
promotional posters, like much Deco design, offered a vivid accessories about the dining table are just as triple ring design also appears in torchére lamps
rainbow of hues. The poster illustration is by Frederic C. Madan. important and effective as they are in any other created by Von Nessen for his own studio.
room in the house.” Home Owners’
Catalogs, 1937.
32 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles