Walter Von Nessen (1889-1943) & Harry Laylon (1911-1997)
a collection of Art Deco polished chromium metalware, second quarter 20th century, manufactured by the Chase Brass & Copper Co., Waterbury, Connecticut, including a "Coronet" pattern coffee urn, designed by Walter Von Nessen, spherical on a fluted stand, with bakelite handles, key and base, and glass knob finial, fitted with electric percolator (cord lacking), h. 12-1/4", w. 10-1/2", d. 10-1/4"; a "Kent" pattern cream jug and covered sugar bowl, designer unrecorded but probably Harry Laylon, spherical with bakelite handle and finial, h. 3-1/4" & 4-1/2", dia. 3-3/4"; and twelve cocktail cups, designed by Harry Laylon, hemispherical with shallow-domed foot ring, now fitted with glass liners, six with silvered rim, h. 2" (3-1/4" with liner), dia. 2-3/4".

The American Art Deco metalware of the Chase Brass & Copper Co. were among the most successful, popular (and, ultimately, iconic) of the pre-war era, thanks in no small part to the talents of designers like Walter Von Nessen, Harry Laylon, Russell Wright, Lurelle Guild, Howard F. Reichenbach, Charles Arcularius and Rockwell Kent: all luminaries of Modern Design. Examples of the pieces in the present lot are represented in the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Art Gallery; an example of each piece is conserved in the Dallas Museum of Art.

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