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Collections

Frank Irwin
'California Contempora' covered vegetable dish (3426) in 'Freeform' shapecirca 1955

Not on view
White ceramic object shaped like cat-eye eyeglasses, with one lens as an open cutout and the other forming a shallow bowl decorated with mid-century abstract motifs in gray, blue, and pink
Three-piece ceramic set with matte white glaze: a tall tapered pitcher, a small cylindrical cup, and an asymmetric boat-shaped dish with cutout handles, each decorated with the same abstract linear motif in pink, teal, gray, and black.
White ceramic vessel shaped like a stylized masquerade mask, with cutout eye openings and a curved bowl base; decorated with an abstract mid-century motif of overlapping teardrop shapes in pink, teal, and gray with thin crossing lines.
Designed by
Frank Irwin
United States, active 20th century
Manufacturer
Metlox Manufacturing Company
United States, California, Manhattan Beach, active 1927-1989
Title
'California Contempora' covered vegetable dish (3426) in 'Freeform' shape
Date Made
circa 1955
Medium
Earthenware
Dimensions
Dish diameter: 11 1/2 in. (29.21 cm); Dish height: 3 5/8 in. (9.2075 cm); a) Lid: 7/8 x 12 x 6 3/4 in. (2.22 x 30.48 x 17.15 cm); b) Bowl: 3 5/8 x 11 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (9.21 x 29.21 x 28.58 cm)
Credit Line
Decorative Arts and Design Acquisition Fund and partial gift of Bill Stern
Accession Number
M.2010.91.2a-b
Classification
Furnishings
Collecting Area
Decorative Arts and Design
Selected Bibliography
  • Kaplan, Wendy, ed. California Design, 1930-1965: Living in a Modern Way. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2011.
  • Kaplan, Wendy, ed. Living in a Modern Way: California Design, 1930-1965. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2013.
Selected Exhibition History
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". October 1, 2011 - June 3, 2012
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 20, 2013 - June 3, 2013
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". July 6, 2013 - September 29, 2013
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". November 2, 2013 - February 9, 2014
  • California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way". March 29, 2014 - July 6, 2014

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