Oceana Box

Russel WrightWW-1935-141631

1935·Maple·7.6 × 23.5 × 15.9 cm (3 × 9 1/4 × 6 1/4 in.)

Like Russel Wright’s American Modern line of ceramics, this wooden box was organically inspired and reasonably priced in order to appeal to a wide audience. Wright successfully adapted a sculptural, handcrafted quality to industrial production techniques. Probably designed to hold candy, the box was made for the Oceana line of free-form wooden serving pieces that imitated marine motifs such as the shell. Part of a larger group of home furnishings entitled American Way, the Oceana line was considered appropriate for use in summer homes.

Catalogue

Year: 1935
Medium: Maple
Dimensions: 7.6 × 23.5 × 15.9 cm (3 × 9 1/4 × 6 1/4 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Russel Wright

Artist

Russel Wright

Ceramics

Russel Wright was an American designer and ceramicist whose innovative tableware and furniture defined postwar domestic modernism. Working primarily in glazed ceramic and molded plastic, he developed accessible, functional forms that rejected ornament in favor of organic, biomorphic shapes. His mass-produced dinnerware lines and organic furniture designs brought modernist principles into American households during the 1940s and 1950s, establishing a distinctly American approach to industrial design that prioritized everyday utility over luxury craftsmanship.

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