Designed by Viktor Schreckengost (American, 1906–2008)
Cowan Pottery Studio (American, 1913–1931)
Rocky River, Ohio
Jazz Bowl
INV-1817
Designed by Viktor Schreckengost (American, 1906–2008)
Cowan Pottery Studio (American, 1913–1931)
Rocky River, Ohioc. 1931
ModernismArt Decobowlamerican decorative arts
Date
c. 1931
Medium
Earthenware, glaze, and engobe
Dimensions
23.5 × 42.6 × 43.2 cm (9 1/4 × 16 3/4 × 17 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Through prior acquisition of the Antiquarian Society; Thorne Rooms Exhibition Fund; bequest of Elizabeth R. Vaughan; and the Winfield Foundation
The Jazz Bowl was originally designed for Eleanor Roosevelt in celebration of her husband Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s re-election as governor of New York, and it has since become an icon of the Jazz Age and an the Art Deco period. Cowan Pottery liked the design, which captures the architecture, music, and nightlife of New York City as Viktor Schreckengost knew it, and the company decided to put the bowl into production. Using Schreckengost’s template and the sgraffito technique, workers scratched the design into the engobe, or black glaze. Schreckengost then inspected and signed the bowl. The final Egyptian blue glaze was applied to reflect New York at night.
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