Alexander Girard La Fonda Del Sol for Mayer China Bowls, Set of Four
About the Item
- Creator:Alexander Girard (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)Diameter: 4.5 in (11.43 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Good overall condition with no visible hairlines, chips, or cracks. There is minor production roughness on the base of one bowl (see photo).
- Seller Location:Garnerville, NY
- Reference Number:
Alexander Girard
The director of design for the textiles department at Herman Miller, Inc., from 1952 to 1973, mid-century modern visionary Alexander Girard introduced bright, bouncy colors to upholstery and drapery fabrics, created jaunty graphics for marketing and advertising materials and devised motifs for everything from textiles to ceramics based on his true love: folk art from cultures around the globe.
The son of an American mother and an Italian father, Girard (known as Sandro to his friends) was born in New York City in 1907 but raised in Florence. He came from a creative family — his father was a master woodworker — and Girard began drawing and making his own playthings as a youngster. He had a fascination for nativity crèche tableaux, an enthusiasm that likely was the germ for his later interest in folk art. He went on to earn degrees in architecture at schools in both Rome and London before returning to New York in the 1930s and working in interior design.
By the 1940s, he and his wife, Susan, had moved to Detroit, where Girard was head of design for Detrola, a firm specializing in tabletop radios. The elegant bentwood housings that he developed for the devices won him acclaim, but, more importantly, at Detrola he met Charles Eames. The two became lifelong friends, and it was Eames who drew Girard toward Herman Miller, which had no dedicated textile department until Girard arrived, and most of its furniture was upholstered in mundane, “safe” hues. Girard changed all that, introducing fabrics in vivid shades of red, orange, yellow and blue. His early designs incorporated geometric motifs — stripes, circles, square, triangles and such. But toward the end of the 1950s he began to introduce folk art themes into his designs.
Girard did not collect important or expensive folk pieces. Rather he was drawn to simple objects such as handmade toys, figurines and models of animals, buildings and plants. The fabrics that emerged had whimsical, lighthearted motifs depicting, for example, angels, children, birds and flowers. Toward the end of his term with Herman Miller, in an effort to achieve what he termed “aesthetic functionalism,” Girard produced a group of what he called “Environmental Enrichment” pieces — silk-screened cotton panels emblazoned with various graphic designs, from bold geometric patterns to folk art themes. They were meant to divide spaces in offices or the home in lieu of walls while simultaneously functioning as art. Today, panels of vintage Girard upholstery textiles have become premium collectibles. The designer's furniture is less well known, primarily because most of it was created for private commissions.
Girard’s most lasting contribution may be his folk art collection. He and Susan had begun gathering pieces shortly after their marriage, in 1936. By the 1970s, they had amassed the world’s largest collection of cross-cultural folk art, composed of more than 100,000 pieces from around the world. The Girards donated their holdings to the Museum of International Folk Art, in Santa Fe (where they had moved in the ’60s), quintupling the institution’s collection, and a new wing — named for the Girards — had to be built to hold it.
Find a striking range of vintage Alexander Girard seating, tables, textiles and other furnishings on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Beacon, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Lucite Counter Stools for Hill Manufacturing Company, Set of FourBy Hill ManufacturingLocated in Garnerville, NYSet of four clear acrylic (Lucite) bar or counter stools produced by Hill Manufacturing Company, Newburgh , New York. Circa 1990-2000. One example is signed with its original label. ...Category
Late 20th Century American Post-Modern Stools
MaterialsUpholstery, Acrylic, Lucite
- 1920s Neoclassical Revival Trenton Potteries Footed VaseBy Trenton PotteriesLocated in Garnerville, NYSigned Trenton Potteries Company neoclassical style footed cachepot. A very distinct piece of porcelain. Trenton Potteries was one of many companies in the area of New Jersey's state capital that produced home fixtures or sanitary porcelain like...Category
Early 20th Century American Neoclassical Porcelain
MaterialsCeramic, Porcelain
- Dan Harner Scallop Shell Carved Wood Catch AllLocated in Garnerville, NYCarved solid crotch walnut scallop shell catch all/decorative platter. Signed with burn in mark, Creaciones, Barcelona, Spain, Dan Harner. Beautifully figured solid walnut sinuous ca...Category
Mid-20th Century Spanish Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsWalnut
- Mid Century Modern Czechoslovak Freeform Art Glass BowlBy Josef Hospodka, Sklo Union Rosice, Chribska GlassworksLocated in Garnerville, NYWonderful 20th Century Modern "thorny" freeform Czechoslovak sommerso art glass bowl. Circa 1960. It still retains its foil label, Made in Czechoslovakia, Handmade. The bowl has a mi...Category
Vintage 1960s Czech Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsArt Glass, Blown Glass
- Large Handwrought Mid Century Modern Copper Footed Boomerang CatchallBy Ronald Hayes Pearson, Karl HagenauerLocated in Garnerville, NYBeautiful hand hammered copper boomerang shaped catchall. Die stamped monogram on the underside, MM, Handwrought. Standing on three wood capped feet. Purchased from a beautiful water...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsCopper
- Stacking Metal Chairs in The Manner of Nanna and Jorgen Ditzel, Set of FourBy Mater, Nanna Ditzel, Nanna and Jørgen DitzelLocated in Garnerville, NYA set of four stacking metal chairs in the manner of Nanna and Jorgen Ditzel's Ocean chair. Personally, this set of indoor/outdoor chairs has a much greate...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum
- 1960s Alexander Girard Ashtray La Fonda Del Sol Restaurant NYC New York City MCMBy Alexander GirardLocated in Hyattsville, MDA very rare and vintage New York City relic. No chips, No handling damage. However this example does have some manufacturing defects that are all Photo'd.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsPorcelain
- Set of Four '4' “Money Tree” Soup Bowls, England, ca. 1830Located in Atlanta, GASet of four (4) “Money Tree” soup bowls, England ca. 1830.Category
Antique Early 19th Century English Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Set of 4 Bowls by Cica GomezLocated in Geneve, CHSet of 4 bowls by Cica Gomez Price for set of 4. Dimensions: Ø 8 x H 6 cm Materials: Porcelain Available in different colors. Usual objects. My work is ...Category
2010s French Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsPorcelain
- Set of Three Porcelain Bowls Winter Decor Sofina Boutique KitzbuehelBy Sofina Boutique KitzbühelLocated in Kitzbuhel, ATThese completely handmade porcelain bowls are painted by hand with a charming hands-free winter decor. Teh decor comes as a set of three decors. One shows...Category
2010s German Black Forest Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Italian Bowls by Pietro Annigoni for Porcellane Eva SudBy Pietro Annigoni 1Located in Byron Bay, NSWPietro Annigoni cup in porcelain Made by Arte Eva Sud Italy Original 1960s.?The cup is high approx cm 8.5, at the opening wide approx cm 9.5, at the bo...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsPorcelain
- Pair of Small White Dolphin BowlsBy Giustiniani Family 1Located in New York, NYPair of small white dolphin bowls. Pair of antique Italian creamware miniature monteith bowls / bud vases supported on tripod dolphin legs on conforming stepped circular base; Giusti...Category
Antique Late 18th Century Italian Neoclassical Decorative Bowls
MaterialsPorcelain