Level: 3A. Object
Content living inside a Group.
Ceramic Animals
Elaine Wormser began collecting nineteenth- and twentieth- century ceramic dog figurines before the commission of her Joseph Urban-designed bedroom. Accommodating this collection must have been one of the stipulations of Urban’s job. Though not accounted for in Urban’s preliminary sketch for the room’s design, its presence injects an aspect of Elaine’s personality and interests into […]
Posted on
Bed and Bedcover
Positioned on a raised platform, the bed and bedcover are an intentional focal point in Urban’s design. The rolling bell curve of the bed’s headboard appeared across the designer’s work for years, reoccurring, for instance, in the silhouettes of settees that he designed for opera sets and for his Wiener Werkstätte of America showroom. The […]
Posted on
Pendant Lamps
Joseph Urban’s placement of these suspended pendant lamps enforces the visual framing around the bed. Hanging the lights from above also had the practical effect of freeing up space on the bedside tables. The trumpet-shaped, multipaneled shades are distilled in form but without loss of interest. Similar lamps were used in other projects by Urban, […]
Posted on
Wall Curtains
Posted on
Carpet
A vibrant and energetic pattern of abstracted flowers in ivory, greens and blues punctuates the midnight blue ground of the Wormser Bedroom carpet. Urban often designed carpets and rugs with intricate patterns for his spaces. A former assistant recalled, “This was a favorite device of his. Without being insistent, without the viewer being conscious of […]
Posted on
Pair of Hassocks
Hassocks, or upholstered ottomans, would have afforded additional, informal seating for visitors to Elaine Wormser’s bedroom or a place for her to rest her feet when seated in the nearby armchair. The green and blue striped upholstery covering the hassocks and the other upholstery fabric in the room were most likely designed by Urban. The […]
Posted on
Nightstand
This nightstand’s simple geometric form becomes more interesting through its high finishes: a polished black lacquer surface, rhythmic inlay pattern, and a metallic gold interior that plays off the gilt details in the neighboring headboard. Urban used this same design in a bedroom he created for the 1929 American Designers’ Gallery exhibition.
Posted on
Bookend
This bookend is one from the pair originally positioned atop Elaine Wormser’s nightstand. Its mate is unlocated. Although clearly present in the room when it was photographed in 1930, it is unknown whether Urban or Elaine added the bookends. Regardless, this elegant form depicting a lute player with chic bobbed hair and wearing a blue […]
Posted on
Carafe and Tray
Marketed in a 1925 advertisement as the perfect service for use at the bedside, this insulated beverage carafe and tray are a visual match for the set that appears in photographs of the Wormser bedroom from 1930. However, Elaine remembered her set as pale green. Placed on a shelf of Elaine’s bedside table, the carafe […]
Posted on
Perfume Bottles
Get ready with Elaine. Explore her dressing table and the artworks around it.
Posted on