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Centerpiece Bowl

Decorative Arts and Design

The undulating lines of the wooden bowl shown here evoke a jellyfish in motion, or a leaf curling in the summer sun. Russel Wright experimented with these curving, biomorphic shapes in several media and clearly found them interesting in their own right. Although neither easy to make nor particularly suited to their purpose, these bowls were, however, wonderfully playful and suggestive of nature to the consumers he targeted.
MEDIUM Earthenware
DATES ca. 1946
DIMENSIONS 4 1/2 x 14 in. (11.4 x 35.6 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS on bottom, impressed: "(in script) Russel Wright/(block) BAUER"
SIGNATURE not signed
INSCRIPTIONS no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER 1994.165.30
CREDIT LINE Gift of Paul F. Walter
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Russel Wright (American, 1904–1976). Centerpiece Bowl, ca. 1946. Earthenware, 4 1/2 x 14 in. (11.4 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Paul F. Walter, 1994.165.30. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.165.30_cropped.jpg)
IMAGE group, 1994.165.30_cropped.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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Russel Wright (American, 1904–1976). <em>Centerpiece Bowl</em>, ca. 1946. Earthenware, 4 1/2 x 14 in.  (11.4 x 35.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Paul F. Walter, 1994.165.30. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1994.165.30_cropped.jpg)