Isamu Noguchi Hawkeye "Measured Time" Clock and Kitchen Timer

Name: Isamu Noguchi Hawkeye "Measured Time" Clock and Kitchen Timer
Brand: Isamu Noguchi
Price: 3200 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

The “Measured Time” clocks have appeared previously on the market without attribution, identified only by the clockface “Hawkeye” label or the Stevenson Manufacturing Company label on the reverse. In his autobiography, Isamu Noguchi mentions that his first Industrial Design was a series of cake molds (which are believed to never have been put into production), followed by the case covering for a clock/kitchen timer called “Measured Time,” and then the baby monitor “Radio Nurse” and accompanying “Guardian Ear.” Because an image of “Measured Time” was never published, “Radio Nurse” had been noted as Noguchi’s first documented mass-produced design. Based on similarities in style, as well as correspondence and relationships in Indiana connecting Noguchi with the Stevenson Manufacturing Company, The Noguchi Foundation has recently confirmed the “Measured Time” case design to be the work of Isamu Noguchi. Source: Phillips Auctions.

Creator:

Isamu Noguchi (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 6.11 in (15.5 cm)Width: 3.55 in (9 cm)Depth: 5.52 in (14 cm)

Style:

Art Nouveau (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Bakelite,Metal,Paper

Place of Origin:

United States

Period:

1930-1939

Date of Manufacture:

1932

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. We assume do not work, we wanted to maintain their originality and we did not make any arrangement or adjustment.

Seller Location:

San Pedro Garza Garcia, MX

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU3330333515392

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Shop All Isamu Noguchi

Isamu Noguchi

A sculptor, painter, ceramicist and furniture and lighting designer, Isamu Noguchi was one of the most prolific and protean creative forces of the 20th century and a key figure in the development of organic modernism. Noguchi’s sculptures and designs — his chairs and tables as well as his timeless Akari lamp and other lighting fixtures — share a common spirit: one of lyrical abstraction, tempo and flow and harmonious balance.

Noguchi was born in Los Angeles to an American mother and Japanese father, and spent most of his childhood in Japan. He returned to the United States at age 13, went to high school in Indiana and enrolled at Columbia University to study medicine. At the same time, he took night courses in sculpture.

Within three months, Noguchi left college to pursue art full time. Noguchi was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1927 and traveled to Paris to work under Constantin Brancusi. It marked a turning point. Inspired by Brancusi, Noguchi embraced abstraction and began to sculpt in the expressive, rhythmic style that would be the hallmark of his work.

Once back in New York, Noguchi was introduced to design by what would become a lifelong collaboration creating sets for choreographer Martha Graham. His first industrial designs were in Bakelite: the sleek Measured Time kitchen timer created circa 1932, and his famed Zenith Radio Nurse intercom, from 1937.

Ten years later, Herman Miller introduced Noguchi’s now-iconic glass-topped coffee table with an articulated wooden base. His washi paper and bamboo Akari light sculptures, handmade in Japan, debuted in 1951. In the late 1950s, Noguchi designed for Knoll, creating such pieces as his dynamic Cyclone table and rocking stool.

For collectors, Noguchi’s furniture and lighting designs remain his most accessible work — they have the same power and presence that Noguchi brought to his art.

Find vintage Isamu Noguchi floor lamps, table lamps, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.