Dorothy Thorpe On Sale
Vintage 1950s American Coat Racks and Stands
Acrylic
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Chrome
Vintage 1950s Glass
Glass
Vintage 1940s Tray Tables
Glass
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Glass, Art Glass
20th Century American Hollywood Regency Candlesticks
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Glass
Silver
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Gold Plate, Brass
20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Chrome
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern More Dining and Entertaining
Lucite
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Lucite
20th Century North American Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Glass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
Lucite, Mirror
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography
Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Giclée
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass, Aluminum, Nickel, Chrome, Enamel, Bronze
2010s British Scandinavian Modern Ottomans and Poufs
Sheepskin, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Brazilian Modern Dining Room Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
2010s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Night Stands
Chrome, Steel
2010s Austrian Jugendstil Chandeliers and Pendants
Silk
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Organic Modern Chandeliers and Pen...
Brass
Vintage 1940s Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Rattan
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Tables
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Steel
2010s Canadian Post-Modern Chairs
Rattan, Maple
Late 20th Century American Barware
Crystal
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Sterling Silver, Chrome
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Nickel
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Silver
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Brass, Gold
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Vases
Silver
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Gold Plate, Brass
20th Century American Barware
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Gold, Brass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candelabras
Chrome, Brass
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
Silver
Early 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Candlesticks
Gold Plate
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Resin
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Sterling Silver
20th Century American Organic Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Glass
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1960s American Decorative Bowls
Crystal, Sterling Silver
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Glass
Platinum
Late 20th Century American Hollywood Regency Magazine Racks and Stands
Chrome
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Crystal, Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1940s American Mid-Century Modern More Furniture and Collectibles
Glass, Lucite
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Glass
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Glass
Vintage 1970s American Modern Tableware
Lucite
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Figurative Sculptures
Resin
Dorothy Thorpe On Sale For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Dorothy Thorpe On Sale?
Dorothy Thorpe for sale on 1stDibs
Dorothy Thorpe glassware was a chic staple of every mid-century modern wet bar, paricularly her festive Roly Poly silver-banded tumblers. Although not as widely known as such contemporaries as Eva Zeisel and Edith Heath, Thorpe was one of a group of creative and entrepreneurial women whose designs captured the imagination of the postwar homeowner with her modern and festive designs.
Thorpe was born in Salt Lake City in 1901 and settled in Los Angeles as a young woman. She began creating her signature glassware using the trade name Dorothy Thorpe Originals in the 1930s. Thorpe was a designer, not a glassblower. To create her shimmering wares, she purchased glass blanks from a variety of manufacturers and subjected them to various techniques, including sandblasting, etching and silver overlay. Initially Art Deco in style, the pieces were signed with a large T and smaller D. Thorpe also worked in ceramics and, in the 1940s, with Lucite, producing a line of household items, such as magazine racks, sculptural lamps, candlesticks and umbrella stands.
After World War II, Thorpe was inspired by the new interest in the flowers and animals of the South Pacific to begin incorporating tropical floral motifs into her work. She traveled to Hawaii and studied local irises, roses, azaleas, narcissus and eucalyptus. The decorative patterns based on these studies were created primarily by sandblasting, which makes a glass surface appear frosted. From the 1930s through the ’50s, Thorpe’s designs won her many fans among the members of café society, including Princess Grace of Monaco and the Shah of Iran. They were also widely imitated. Vintage tumblers that bear a silver stripe around the rim but lack the “DT” signature on the bottom are not Thorpe originals.
In the 1950s, Thorpe created the glassware line Atomic Splash, which featured the energetic geometric patterns that were so popular at the time. Atomic Splash patterned drinking glasses and serving dishes bore a silver overlay that evoked an explosion. She also designed a line of ceramic tableware decorated with a wreath of spring flowers in collaboration with Crown Lynn Pottery, in New Zealand, and, in the mid-’60s, created coffee sets for the Santa Barbara and Monterey companies. Among her own ceramics products were lines glazed iin the eye-catching shades Orange Persimmon and Blue Periwinkle.