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A glazed stoneware coffeepot in two colors.

The coffeepot is slightly flared at the top with a domed lid. The flare tapers in before gradually widening at the center and then tapering in again to the bottom. It has a slightly curved spout on one side with an arched handle opposite. At the top is a band of white with raised lines around the circumference. The rest of the pot is light brown.

Gallery Text

Bauhaus artists and designers sought to revolutionize society by radically reshaping the environments in which people lived. The objects in this case, products of the school’s metal, pottery, and carpentry workshops, reflect innovative approaches to the design of everyday household items—from the minimalist rethinking of the ornate tea glasses of eastern Europe to the transformation of chess pieces into pure geometric form. The design of decorative art objects at the Bauhaus was as strongly informed by modern artistic theories as the paintings and sculpture produced there. The table lamp, for example, made in the metal workshop when the constructivist artist László Moholy-Nagy served as its director, explores the circular form in three dimensions: as a disk, cylinder, and sphere. Now considered an icon of Bauhaus design, in 1924 the lamp failed to achieve the Bauhaus goal of creating objects well suited for industrial production, due to its high fabrication cost. Relatively few Bauhaus objects were mass-produced, in fact, despite the school’s efforts to establish partnerships with industry. The objects’ extreme modernity and frequently high prices made them less appealing to the general public and relatively uncommon outside the homes of artists and intellectuals and the Bauhaus buildings.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BR31.89
People
Otto Lindig, German (Pössneck, Germany 1895 - 1966 Hamburg, Germany)
Manufactured by Staatliche Majolika-Manufaktur Karlsruhe (1901 - 1978)
Title
Coffeepot
Classification
Vessels
Work Type
vessel
Date
designed 1928-1929, manufactured 1929-1931
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/348957

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Glazed stoneware
Dimensions
24.8 x 18.7 x 12 cm (9 3/4 x 7 3/8 x 4 3/4 in.)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Anonymous Gift
Accession Year
1931
Object Number
BR31.89
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Peter Nisbet and Emilie Norris, Busch-Reisinger Museum: History and Holdings, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1991)
  • Peter Nisbet and Joseph Koerner, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, ed. Peter Nisbet, Harvard University Art Museums and Scala Publishers Ltd. (Cambridge, MA and London, England, 2007)

Exhibition History

Subjects and Contexts

  • The Bauhaus

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu