Design #5516WS (in Architectural Series)
Design #5516WS (in Architectural Series)
Artist
Wayne Husted
(designer)
Manufacturer
Blenko Glass Company
((1921- present))
Datedesigned: 1955
DimensionsH: 32 3/4 in.; Diameter: 7 1/2 in.
MediumMold-blown, applied, cut and polished glass.
ClassificationGlass
Credit LinePurchased with funds from Helen Brooks in memory of Mayme and Rudolph Luedtke.
Object number
2013.3A-B
On View
Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion (2444 Monroe Street), Glass Pavilion Gallery, Cavity
DescriptionThe tall, bottle-shaped vessel is mold-blown of charcoal grey glass, its rim is cut and fire-polished. The matching stopper has a flat round finial that is also mold blown.
Label TextBright colors dominated glass design for the American home after World War II, echoing the optimistic outlook of the era. The Blenko Glass Company in Milton, West Virginia, produced the Architectural Series—large-scale vessels designed for display in the new open-concept architecture and split-level floor plans. A strictly American phenomenon, they represented a new design aesthetic for glass vessels: as architectural elements, they related to the built environment in which they were placed. In 1955, innovative Blenko designer Wayne Husted expanded on his predecessor Wesley Anderson’s concept of the Terrace Vase (literally meant to be placed on a terrace), designing even bigger forms that challenged the physical capabilities of the Blenko glassblowers. His successor, studio glass pioneer Joel Philip Myers, continued the line during his tenure with even more exaggerated forms. The large vessels became particularly popular in the American South and in California, where both the indoor-outdoor lifestyle and the rambling size of newly-built houses were more conducive to their display.Published ReferencesCf. Blenko Glass Company, Sales Catalog, 1955, page 9 (ill.)
Christopher Mount, "Rainbow Maker,” I.D. Magazine, Jan/Feb 2004, (ill. in gold)
Featured in the 1959 advertisement designed by Wayne Husted, "Careful Michelle, its Blenko", published in House & Garden and other magazines.
Exhibition HistoryBrooklyn Museum, Design for the Home, 1958.Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 20th Century Design USA, 1959.
Comparative ReferencesSee also This design was awarded first prize at a design competition held by the Designers and Decorators Guild of South Florida in 1957. The judges were William Pahlmann & Raymond Loewy.Wayne Husted
designed: 1958
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