Esoteric Survey

More bisque Architectural Pottery I've been on kind of a roll. Good clay books This one has good provenance!

  Architectural Pottery by David Cressey and John Follis, Japanese bronze and books

Back to my IBM score.  This all came from the estate of an IBM employee. His name is on one of the signs but I couldn't find much about him. I was told he was an engineer at IBM. I've covered the importance of Eliot Noyes in past posts  but here's a summary.  He studied architecture at Harvard under Bauhaus  founder Walter Gropius. He  worked for Marcel Breuer and Gropius' architecture firm shortly after graduating.  Noyes was also the first Director of Industrial Design at MoMA and was a central figure with the Organic Home Furnishings and Good Design exhibitions. This was all interrupted by WWII.   While working at the Pentagon during WWII, Noyes became friends with Thomas J. Watson Jr., future president, CEO, and chairman of IBM. After the war, Noyes worked in the Norman Bel Geddes office, which won a commission to redesign IBM’s office machines. Eventually the Geddes office closed and Noyes won the typewriter contract for himself. He then famo...

  My pile from Mod Swap. Anyone ever see a Rupert Deese candle holder in solid bronze?    Speaking of Mod Swap, it was a super fun day.  Photo: Ron Kerner It was also the debut of Black Pine Society The non-Mod Swap pile for the weekend... Architectural Pottery and Doug Ayers And a Bill Lam diffuser. I have a feeling there are a lot of these out there waiting to be saved. I found mine attached to a table lamp at the Rose Bowl. I'm just glad the guy didn't make me buy the awful lamp it was on. 

  Mingei International Museum has just reemerged from a three year massive renovation led by architect Jennifer Luce . The project has actually been in the works since 2015. The transformation is incredible.   George Nakashima bench outside the library.  The library has moved upstairs and is now more accessible to the public. The shelving is Vitsoe, designed by Dieter Rams. I heard it might be one of the largest installations of Vitsoe ever done. I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the stacks. George Nakashima desk GLOBAL SPIRIT—Folk Art from the Ted Cohen Collection showcases folk art from more than 20 countries, highlighting a donation to the Museum by Oakland-based collector and exhibition designer, Ted Cohen. The Museum's board of director's Nakashima table grew.  Mira Nakashima was commissioned to add a new extension to the table. Art of the People for The People - O bjects from the Museum's collection. The focus is  Mingei’s roots in the early ...