Lot 30
SYLVIA SHAW JUDSON (AMERICAN 1897-1978)
DOVE FAUCET, DESIGNED 1928
Auction: 30 October from 10:00 GMT
Description
stamped S.PAT.75428, and inscribed draft (to base), brass
Dimensions
12cm high, 17cm wide, 8cm deep (4 ¾in high, 6 ¾in wide, 3 1/8in deep)
Provenance
Private Collection, U.K.
Footnote
This unusual brass dove-form fitting relates to a design by the noted Chicago sculptor Sylvia Shaw Judson (1887–1978), best known for her elegant naturalistic sculpture and garden ornament. The design was registered in the United States under patent no. 75,428 in 1928, with the patent drawings corresponding closely to the present model. The patent number is stamped, though partially worn, beneath the tail feathers.
Conceived as a decorative faucet fitting, the dove reflects Judson’s characteristic interest in birds and the natural world, translated here into a functional piece of late 1920s American design.