Vintage Art Deco Cocktail Picks by Kennedy-King College Publication Design Class Spring 2016

Vintage Art Deco Cocktail Picks

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y fascination with Art Deco era cocktail pick sets began innocently enough with a trip to New Orleans for Thanksgiving in 2012. In the French Quarter, there is a restaurant that has been in operation since 1840–Antoine’s. A restaurant with such a lauded history is worth a visit when in New Orleans. For me, the most interesting aspect of the place was not the food, but rather the mirror-backed display cases that line the perimeter and are stuffed to the brim with hundreds of pieces of nostalgia such as old liquor bottles, glassware and serving pieces, some that commemorate visits by royalty and celebrities. I was enjoying looking at the cases and getting a feeling for the rich history that Antoine’s Restaurant has enjoyed over the last 160plus years, when there it was in all its glory –a beautiful chrome snail sitting atop a dark rosewood base with a splay of red bakelitetopped escargot picks neatly arranged behind it. What a beautiful piece of sculpture. For some reason, I instantly wanted this piece of Antoine’s past. But how - it certainly was not for sale. And thievery was out of the question the last thing I wanted was to be locked up in a New Orleans jail over Thanksgiving. I would miss the turkey and pecan pie! Reluctantly, I left Antoine’s that day, but the memory of the snail persisted. Over the next few weeks, back in Chicago, I often thought about that object of my affection and wondered, “why am I so fascinated with such an odd knick-knack? 2

It was the style of the piece I presumed. I have always been enamored with the designs of the Art Deco era, which dates from between the mid-1920’s to then start of World War II in the early 1940’s. And then there is the fact that I love to drink cocktails, my favorite being a Manhattan; bourbon whiskey with sweet vermouth and bitters garnished with a cherry. A cherry that requires a cocktail pick if you don’t want to fish it out of glass with your fingers to eat it. I began my search for that chrome snail at antiques stores and malls and quickly discovered that there are other variations of decorative cocktail pick sets out there. The first one I found was a wooden Scottie dog at a small antique mall in La Grange, Illinois. The Scottie would

be perfect, as it is the mascot for Carnegie Mellon University, the school where my wife and I met. I didn’t buy that wooden dog that day (because it wasn’t slick chrome with bakelite and dark wood), but I did pick up a very similar, although wonky-eyed version a couple of years later. The ﬁrst set I purchased was a beautiful red bakelite orb with matching bakelite-topped picks. I like how the red tops are cherries with short thick-guage metal wire for stems. The bakelite and chrome construction are typical for the Art Deco era and the set is functional as well as beautiful.

Not having much luck finding the elusive snail at antique stores, I turned my attention to eBay. After a while of looking I did find what I was looking for! A beautiful, if not well-worn snail sitting on a dark wood platform seemingly staring at the red bakelite “berries” attached do the ends of slender chrome picks that were contained withing a simple cylinder of chromed metal. Close-up photos showed signs of wear to the snail and the picks were not actually usable as there was rust spots on them. But what deterred me from bidding most was the price. Over two hundred dollars! No, I would have to keep looking. My patience was rewarded a few months later while visiting my family in New York. On eBay, I spotted a snail just like the one at Antoine’s, but instead of a splay of a dozen neatly arranged picks, this one had eight bakelitetopped picks that poked up from various limbs of a tree trunk. I liked it even better and put in a bid that won my long-sought-after prize for less than $100! But I couldn’t stop there. I was hooded and started to search for more. My next cocktail pick set was a gift from my wife who bought a set at an antique store in New Orleans when we returned to NOLA for Thanksgiving the following year, 2013. It was a simple chrome cup with a dozen chrome picks with clear plastic spheres on top. Bunched together in the holder, the set is simple, but quite beautiful and reminds me of a tightly arranged vase of flowers. Today I have more than will fit on two shelves of an art deco étagère we have in the living room of our 3

West Loop condo. But I continue to look for more. In my search I have learned about two famous artists that have created sets in France in the 1930’s; Raymond Sudre (1870– 1962) and Benjamin Rabier (1864– 1939). Exquisite sets by these men sell for many hundreds of dollars each on eBay. Most of the sets I own were found on eBay, but occasionally are found at antique malls, antique and flea markets, or on the web-based retail site Etsy. I much prefer to find items to add to my collection at a physical, “bricks-and-mortar” store because it is much easier to inspect the item for defects or wear-andtear. Photos of items for sale on eBay can be helpful, but it is often difficult to get a true sense of sale and to see minor imperfections.

My Collection

Raymond Sudre (1870–1962)

French sculptor born in Perpignan, France, Raymond Sudre is well known for his bust of the Count de Blossac in Poitiers, as well as the World War I memorial in Ille-sur-Tet. In addition, he designed the Fontaine des Armours de Bagatellein in Paris. But for me, the most interesting of his works are the whimsical characters that animate beautiful art deco cocktail stick sets, some of which are shown here. These examples merely scratch the surface of a wide-range of topics. It is a great deal of fun to come across a new one in an antique store, or online. My favorites are ones where the knobs on the picks serve a dual purpose, such as bar glasses, bocce balls or plums.

Bass Player Two dimensional metal hand painted ﬁgure mounted on an walnut wooden base. Comes with 6 phenolic handled cocktail sticks.

Cocktail Sticks Novelty French hand painted two dimensional man playing boulet. The cocktail sticks have phenolic handles and are in the pot to one end.

Chrome bird with red bakelite sticks in rectangular metal container on a dark wood base. Marked “Made in France.”

Chromed metal squirrel holding a red ball. Red bakelite sticks in a wooden tree-tree trunk.

Designer: unknown (probably Sudre) Date: unknown, likely 1940’s Materials: Chrome, bakelite, wood

Designer: unknown (probably Rabier) Date: unknown, likely 1930’s Materials: Chrome, bakelite, wood

Karate Kicker This set has a man doing karate on a macassar wooden base. The chrome cup to the side holds the phenolic cocktail sticks.

Clown Balancing Ball on Nose Depicting a clown with a red ball on his nose.

The Chef

Lady Cook

French cocktail sticks set stars a cook with chef’s hats as the cocktail sticks.

The plums the lady is glazing are the cocktail sticks. French macassar-based cocktail sticks set.

Chrome bird with red bakelite sticks splayed in chrome rack on a chrome base with ball decorations and small feet.

A pair of chrome snails with red bakelite sticks on rectangular chrome base.

Designer: unknown (may be Rabier) Date: unknown, likely 1940â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Materials: Chrome, bakelite

On The Beach

Drunk at the Bar

A French walnutbased cocktail stick set. Features a two-dimensional lady playing with a beach ball. The cocktail sticks have phenolic ball handles.

A French amboyne wooden bar cocktail sticks set. Unsigned but undoubtedly by Sudre with a 2 dimensional Drinker. The cocktail sticks are the items on the bar.

Ric and Rac Set

Bartender

French set with metal Ric and Rac cartoon terrier dogs. Ric and Rac were created by the French cartoonist Pol Rab. The cocktail sticks are in the central phenolic black holder.

French macassarbased cocktail stick set. The cocktail sticks are the bottles and glasses on the top of the of the bar and have cream phenolic handles.

A large chrome snail with red bakelite sticks contained within a decorative chrome tree trunk on a dark wood base with mitered corners. Designer: unknown (likely Rabier) Date: unknown, likely 1940’s Materials: Chrome, bakelite, wood

A carved wood Scottish terrier wearing a red plastic collar with red bakelite sticks on an oval wood base. Designer: unknown Date: unknown, likely 1940’s or 50’s Materials: Bakelite, wood

Benjamin Rabier (1864–1939) Known primarily as an illustrator and comic book artist, Benjamin Rabier rose to fame after creating the comic book called La vache qui rit. Many of the animal characters became well-known and loved, such a Gideon the Duck and a variety of other animals he created in the comic book Le roman de Renart. Many of his animal characters have been sculpted in the form of knife rests, a commonplace item on a table setting of the early twentieth century, but quite uncommon today. My favorite of Rabier’s pieces are obviously his beautiful sculptures of animals and snails that adorn the very masculine and substantial cocktail stick sets seen here.

Cocktails Sticks Set by Rabier Signed Benjamin Rabier on the base, this is larger than average and features a duck and snail.

Cocktails Sticks Set by Rabier Unsigned Benjamin Rabier There are 12 red phenolic-handled cocktail sticks with it. Features a fox and crow from a famous French nursery tale.

A deep red bakelite sphere holds a set of red bakelite sticks. No base. The bakelite knobs are cherries complete with stems.

An unusually dark red bakelite cherry holds a set of bakelite sticks on a wood base. The knobs are cherries with stems.

Designer: unknown Date: unknown, likely 1940’s Materials: Chrome, bakelite

A wood bar with chrome top holds plastic liquor bottles and chrome shaker that are actually cocktail sticks in disguise!

A large wood bar with holds cocktail sticks in the shape of two wood liquor bottles and six wood cocktail glasses

Designer: unknown Date: unknown, likely 1940’s Materials: Wood, chrome, plastic

Designer: unknown Date: unknown, likely 1940’s or 50’s Materials: Wood, metal

lthough often referred to as simply “Cocktail Sticks,” there are two decidedly different styles which I refer to as picks and forks. The picks have a single, long shaft that tapers at the end to a sharp point. Picks are ideal for cocktails as the cherry, olive or onion can be pushed up to the middle of the shaft when laid into a glass.

FORKS

The forks, on the other hand, terminate in a two-tined prong which is more

From left, above: Two picks of different lengths. Two picks with stick that protrudes through the ball and bends to create a cherry “stem.” Three forks of varying length. Two forks with cherry stem ﬁnials – the one on the left is ingeniously made with a sliver of plastic carved and bent out of the “cherry” itself.

PICKS

suited to eating than spearing. They can, and often are, used for cocktails, but a fork suggests eating. I image anything from a nice cheese plate or charcuterie board to an assortment of hors d’oeuvres would taste better when taken with a stick from one of these decorative sets.

Red bakelite and clear Lucite knobs. 9

Deep red bakelite cherry-topped stick are displayed behind a large chrome ladle with red bakelite handle resting on four large bakelite cherries. Designer: unknown Date: unknown, likely 1940’s Materials: Chrome, bakelite

A chrome cup holds a dozen clear Lucite-topped cocktail forks. Designer: unknown Date: unknown, likely 1960’s or 70’s Materials: Chrome, Lucite

An highly detailed boat holds a dozen red bakelite-topped forks. Designer: unknown (may be Rabier) Date: unknown, likely 1940’s Materials: Chrome, bakelite, on a wooden base

At right, a dozen gold-toned metal picks with red bakelite cherry toppers. They are contained in a holder that stands next to a miniature replica of the Theme Building from the 1939 New York Worlds Fair. The entire thing rests on a wood base that has a metal label that reads â&#x20AC;&#x153;1939 New York Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fairâ&#x20AC;? Designer: unknown Date: 1939 Materials: Chrome, gold-toned metal, bakelite, wood