An overt allusion to New York's skyline, the Manhattan cocktail set represents the 1930s fascination with urbanity and modernity. This tall, cylindrical cocktail shaker and its accompanying stemmed cups (see MMA 1998.537.12–.17) can be arranged like architectural elements on the stepped serving tray (see MMA 1998.537.18), which provides a plazalike platform.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Cocktail shaker
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Cocktail shaker lid
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:"Manhattan" Cocktail Ensemble
Designer:Norman Bel Geddes (American, Adrian, Michigan 1893–1958 New York)
Manufacturer:Revere Copper and Brass Company, Rome, NY
Date:1935–40
Medium:Chrome-plated brass
Dimensions:1998.537.11a–c (shaker): 13 × 3 1/4 in., 1.8 lb. (33 × 8.3 cm, 0.8 kg) 1998.537.12–.17 (cups): 4 1/2 × 2 1/2 in., 0.2 lb. (11.4 × 6.4 cm, 0.1 kg) 1998.537.18 (tray): 1 × 11 1/2 × 14 1/2 in., 2.4 lb. (2.5 × 29.2 × 36.8 cm, 1.1 kg)
Classification:Metalwork
Credit Line:John C. Waddell Collection, Gift of John C. Waddell, 1998
Accession Number:1998.537.11a–c–.18
Marking: (impressed on underside): Revere / ROME / N.Y.
John C. Waddell, New York (until 1998; his gift to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 16, 2000–January 7, extended to February 4, 2001, unnumbered cat. (p. 85).
Newport Beach, Calif. Orange County Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 25–August 19, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Flint. Flint Institute of Arts. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," September 14–December 16, 2001, unnumbered cat.
Philadelphia. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," January 11–April 7, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Charlotte. Mint Museum of Craft and Design. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," May 3–July 28, 2002, unnumbered cat.
Tulsa. Philbrook Museum of Art. "American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age," August 23–November 17, 2002, unnumbered cat.
London. Victoria and Albert Museum. "Art Deco 1910–1939," March 27–July 20, 2003, unnumbered cat. (pl. 32.5).
Toronto. Royal Ontario Museum. "Art Deco 1910–1939," September 15, 2003–January 4, 2004, unnumbered cat.
California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Art Deco 1910–1939," March 13–July 5, 2004, unnumbered cat.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Art Deco 1910–1939," September 19, 2004–January 9, 2005, unnumbered cat.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Curator's Eye: J. Stewart Johnson, 1990–2004," March 1–November 6, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s," September 5–December 10, 2023, unnumbered cat. (pl. 83).
Donald J. Bush. The Streamlined Decade. New York, 1975, p. 141, fig. 133 (unknown collection).
Alastair Duncan. American Art Deco. New York, 1986, p. 87, ill. (Brooklyn Museum collection).
Alastair Duncan. Art Deco. London, 1988, p. 77, ill. (Brooklyn Museum collection).
Stephen Visakay. Vintage Bar Ware: Identification and Value Guide. Paducah, Ky., 1997, pp. 84–85, 87–88, 91, ill. (color; Stephen Visakay collection).
Jeannine Falino inArt Deco 1910–1939. Ed. Charlotte Benton et al. Exh. cat., Victoria and Albert Museum. London, 2003, pp. 346, 440 n. 14, p. 453, colorpl. 32.5.
Allison Rudnick. Art for the Millions: American Culture and Politics in the 1930s. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2023, pp. 27, 198, colorpl. 83.
Mitchell Abidor. "Hope and Despair in the American Socialist Movements of the 1930s: 'Art for the Millions' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art." publicseminar.org. October 2, 2023.
Karen Wilkin. "Yesterday's Tomorrow." New Criterion 42 (December 2023), p. 33.
Norman Bel Geddes (American, Adrian, Michigan 1893–1958 New York)
1938
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's engagement with art from 1890 to today includes the acquisition and exhibition of works in a range of media, spanning movements in modernism to contemporary practices from across the globe.
