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Collections

Clarence M. Burroughs
Pitchercirca 1948

Not on view
Molded plastic pitcher with blush pink upper body and slate gray lower body, loop handle, and ridged gray lid, shown against a pale gray background
Designed by
Clarence M. Burroughs
United States, active California, Glendale, 1904-1998
Manufacturer
Burroughs Manufacturing Corporation
United States, California, Los Angeles, founded 1949
Title
Pitcher
Date Made
circa 1948
Medium
Plastic
Dimensions
8 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 3 5/8 in. (21.59 x 19.05 x 9.21 cm)
Credit Line
Decorative Arts and Design Council Fund
Accession Number
M.2010.120.1
Classification
Furnishings
Collecting Area
Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes

Many manufacturing businesses emerged following World War II to meet the burgeoning demand for new household goods. In Los Angeles, the plastics producer Burroughs Manufacturing Corporation created brightly colored, low-cost plastic accessories for the home. The innovative aspect of this pitcher is not its design, which resembles glass and ceramic versions produced twenty years earlier, but its material. Company advertisements touted the plastic as inexpensive, lightweight, and unbreakable.



(California Design, 1930–1965: "Living in a Modern Way," 2011-12)

Selected Bibliography
  • 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". October 1, 2011 - June 3, 2012