Art Deco, Canning Pottery & Cylindrical Vases of the 1920s

Art Deco

• Art deco was a style of art and design that could mostly be found in architecture and interior design. It mainly flourished in the 1920s, when it began in Paris, and the 1930s, though it has been periodically revived since then. The structure of art deco is rooted in mathematical geometric shapes. Art deco design is richly ornamental and typically relies on such materials as inlaid wood, chrome, stainless steel, lacquer, aluminum and Bakelite, yet also deploys such lavish, eccentric items as zebra skin and shark skin. In the United States, some of the best examples of art deco design can be found in the Radio City Music Hall auditorium and in the spire of the Chrysler Building in New York.

Canning Pottery

• Canning Pottery was a company that produced a number of art deco earthenware pieces during its years of operation, 1923 to 1935. The company was located in the English town of Stoke on Trent, which is still regarded by many as the capital of modern pottery. Upon the company's closure in 1935, its factory was taken over by Decoro Pottery Limited.

Cylindrical Vases

• Given art deco's propensity for complex geometric shapes, the cylinder became a favorite motif among many designers. Such vases tend to have a very modern feel, as they are often painted with stylish, figurative emblems that occasionally border on kitsch. The Danish artist Bjorn Wiinblad is known to have produced a number of cylindrical vases in an art deco style, as did the Canning Pottery company.

Related Styles

• Art deco has had a major influence on contemporary design. Much pop art-influenced design has its roots in an art deco approach; the furniture designed by the Italian company Memphis in the 1980s was noted to have an art deco influence, including a number of cylindrical vases and lamps.