Hail the Hero
East meets West in this unusual tankard (ca. 1680). The porcelain body was crafted in the kilns of Arita, Japan; it probably was intended for the European market, as the shape isn’t typical of Asia. The silver lid was hammered in Amsterdam, and mounted with a medal commemorating Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp, who led the Netherlands to many a sea victory in the early 1600s. This cross-breeding of crafts was unusual, but it makes sense. After all, if you want to toast a great naval hero, only the best materials will do. | S.J. Shrubsole, 104 E. 57th St., 212.753.8920
Leaves of Brass
“I regard nature as being the strongest influence,” artist Harry Bertoia (1915-1978) once noted. This delicate, untitled wire sculpture of his from the 1950s does indeed resemble a thatch of straw, or perhaps phragmites, the spiky wetlands reeds. Yet, compared to some of Bertoia’s other renowned series, which depict realistic dandelions or trees, the tabletopsize piece borders on the abstract, its rods of melted brass-coated steel almost pulsating with a nervous, Atomic Age energy. | Jonathan Boos, by appointment, 212.535.5096
Garden Variety
Americans are quick to recognize Danish Modern furniture, but are less familiar with Scandinavian artists working in a more traditional mode, such as Kai Nielsen (1882-1924). Famed for his public sculptures, he also specialized in smaller female figures, such as this young girl of reconstituted stone (1923-24)—one of his final works—created for a Swedish home. While atypical among usually idealized, tranquil garden sculptures—note her awkwardly placed foot— she is quite characteristic of Nielsen’s nudes, whose contorted shapes possess a raw, sinewy beauty. | Lost City Arts, 18 Cooper Square, 212.375.0500
innewyork.com | march 2014 | IN New YORK
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