COMPLIMENTARY COPY
Published Weekly By Joel Sater Publications www.antiquesandauctionnews.net
Satin Splendor
VOL. 43, NO. 3 FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2012
Deco Giftware
cal production of aluminum, and for to the eye, its primary focus was on will be no peeling. Guild, born in 1898, graduated “This beautiful metal, excep- from Syracuse University with an many years Alcoa, (the company serviceability, and visual appeal uxurious beauty is super- name adopted in 1907), reigned free played a decidedly secondary role. tionally suitable for gift pieces, will art degree. He began his career as However, by the 1930s, other metal have your customers coming back an illustrator, designing interiors seding frivolous glitter. of competition. Aluminum was lightweight. It manufacturers such as the Chase for more! To design it, we’ve chosen for popular homemaking magaKensington’s beauty is a man named by zines. By 1926, the overpowering rich, substantial, ‘Fortune’’ magazine urge to bring those ideas to life led aristocratic. as one of the foremost him to a career in the newly-popuKensington metal commercial designers lar field of industrial design. Here, is a recently disin the United States: Guild’s efforts to combine eyecovered alloy of Lurelle Guild.” Aluminum which pleasing form with life-enhancing Design does not tarnish function came to full fruition. Luminary: Lurelle or stain. It keeps Unlike many of his design Guild its silvery luster contemporaries, Guild was also a “Beauty alone canny businessman. His inveni n d e f i n i t e l y. does not sell.” Kensington tions were always patented, with Lurelle Guild laughs at time.” the patent assigned to the manuFortune, February, facturer. Guild then assessed his American 1934 Home, May, 1937 clients a design fee, plus a royalty Lurelle Van on all items produced from the Kensington Arsdale Guild was patent. In 1934, his Chase remualso laughed all often referred to as neration alone amounted to the way to the “the gadget man,” and $25,000. At that time, annual takebank. Upon its he didn’t mind one bit. home pay for the typical American introduction in the During his 1920s and family averaged $1,500. early 1930s, this 1930s heyday, over Alcoa line of To head off design copycats, one thousand designs Guild made sure that his patents brushed-aluleft the indefatigable indus- covered more than just surface minum housewares was an Not your typical Kensington, but very impressive: gold alloy, seven-socket trial designer’s drawing appearance. Said Guild in his Art immediate hit. The reasons “Church Candelabra”. 20 inches long, $125 to $150. board - annually. Working & Industry interview, “If we make were simple. Kensington was attractive. It was durable. resisted corrosion. And Alcoa pro- Brass & Copper Company, were on a free-lance basis, Guild’s a strong enough patent, so that it And, most importantly for duced plenty of it. The challenge turning their attention to decorative, diverse assignments included, in supports the design, competing Depression-era buyers, it was came in persuading manufacturers affordable giftware. The time was addition to Kensington, projects for products aren’t going to copy the affordable. From console sets to to utilize this new-fangled metal in right for Alcoa to add some luster of such clients as Westinghouse, surface appeal as promptly as they General Electric, and the Chase will with two products basically barware, vases to serving trays, place of materials that had stood its own. All Aglow Kensington allowed 1930s house- them in good stead for many years. similar. Mechanical Alcoa’s “Kensington holders to entertain stylishly, on a Eventually, Alcoa came to a deciimprovements are minimal budget. With silver ser- sion: if other companies would not Ware” first came to the public required if the design vices running into the hundreds of put aluminum to good use, then eye in the summer of 1934, is to ‘stick’.” In other with showings at the Chicago dollars, frugal homemakers Alcoa would. words, it wasn’t The initial result was the “Wear- and New York Gift Shows, instead opted to stuff their sideenough to simply boards with silvery, inexpensive Ever” line of cooking utensils, attended by over 4,000 retail come up with a prettyKensington. Even a massive eye- which debuted in 1901. No more buyers. (The “Kensington” to-look-at teapot. catcher, such as Kensington’s 18- lugging heavy iron pots from stove name was in tribute to New Guild knew that a inch “Zodiac Tray” with its interi- to sink. No more scouring un-scour- Kensington, Pennsylvania, revised spout or hanwere the firm or brass ring depiction of dle was key in wardwas headquarastrological symbols, sold ing off possible design tered). A for just $10. At prices like piracy. Kensington that, what pocketbook Lurelle Guild not sales brochure could resist? only designed his from early 1935 Affordable then, products, but had very touted the line’s Kensington is just as definite, (and almost numerous affordable (and colalways successful), advantages: lectible), today. Even 75 ideas on displaying “The world years after its 1936 introthem to their best is always waitduction, that “Zodiac advantage. His ing for someTray” remains a steal at Kensington showthing new and $125 to $150. Other room in Rockefeller different. Gifts Kensington pieces are Center offered one of made from gold just as reasonably priced, the first examples of and silver, copsome in the $10 to $15 objects lit from below. per, pewter, and range. In addition to Like aging actresses, bronze, have price, today’s collectors the Kensington pieces been handed are lured to Kensington were highlighted by down from genby the same reasons that flattering, indirect eration to generinitially drew consumers: lighting, rather than ation. Now we beauty and durability. harsh overhead spots. introduce a new Over the years, however, Graduated wall tints, A hearty helping of Lurelle Guild’s designs for metal. . there has been one imporand floor tiles which Kensington. .Kensington. tant addition: viewed replicated the wall col“Kensington through the lens of time, orings, contributed to metal is an alloy of Brass & Copper Co. Among his a sophisticated, unified display Kensington pieces have aluminum. It has most nearly-innumerable credits: the atmosphere. But always, there was become prime examples of the advantages of Electolux vacuum; the Norge refrig- one goal in mind. As Forbes magof the classic lines and silver, pewter, and erator; elegant simplicity that Ingersoll-Waterbury azine noted in a 1936 profile, chromium, yet none of Company clocks; Underwood type- “Guild is first, last, and always, a define Art Deco. “Northumberland Canapé Plate,” 10 inches deep, $25 to their disadvantages. It writers; GE washing machines; salesman. His point of departure, Lustrous Beginnings Think “Alcoa”. . . think $30, shown with “Southampton Sauce Boat”. 7-3/4 inches will not tarnish or Columbia Mills lace curtains and therefore, is the market. He first deep saucer, 4-3/4 inches deep boat, $35 to $40 a set. stain, but retains its tablecloths; over 200 books and decides what people want to buy, “aluminum”. Even the soft, silvery luster. This pamphlets, including the still-in- and what they can pay.” name is an acronym for what the company is all about: the able iron pans. Housewives eagerly obviates the necessity of constant demand décor book Designed For Shining Examples “Aluminum Company of embraced easy-care Wear-Ever, and cleaning. A mild soap and warm Living; nearly the entire line of “Against the silvery backAmerica”. Originally founded in Alcoa’s sales skyrocketed, aided by water is all that is necessary. Chase lamps; Fostoria liqueur glass- ground of Kensington metal, Mr. “Kensington metal will not fin- es, and an American Locomotive Guild has cleverly contrasted 1888 as the Pittsburgh Reduction a retinue of door-to-door salesmen, Company, Alcoa was the brain- mostly college students eager to ger print easily. It has a hard sur- streamliner! As Art & Industry exquisite mounts of old brass. This child of scientist Charles Martin demonstrate Wear-Ever’s wonders. face, which is protection against noted in 1938, “there are few prod- marriage of two metals is in The Wear-Ever line was primar- normal wear and scuffing. And, as ucts Lurelle Guild hasn’t designed accordance with a new trend in Hall. His electro-chemical reduction process kicked off the practi- ily a utilitarian one; while pleasing there is no superficial plating, there or re-designed.” (Continued on page 2) By Donald-Brian Johnson
“L