See more objects with the tag domestic interiors, interior design, radios, cabinets.

Object Timeline

1933

  • Work on this object began.

1935

  • Work on this object ended.

1988

  • We acquired this object.

2015

2018

2025

  • You found it!

Drawing, Design for Radio Cabinet, Bar Room, Richard H. Mandel House, 323 Haines Road, Bedford Hills, NY

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Donald Deskey and from the office of Donald Deskey and made for (as the client) Richard H. Mandel. It is dated 1933–35 and we acquired it in 1988. Its medium is graphite on tracing paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

In 1933, Richard H. Mandel commissioned Donald Deskey and architect Edward Durell Stone to design his estate in Bedford Hills, New York. This radio cabinet design for Mandel’s barroom suits the multiple uses of the informal space, with compartments for radio, speakers, and games. Industrial materials such as wood veneer and Formica demonstrate Deskey’s embrace of modern technologies, and the multipurpose convenience of the cabinet is in keeping with the spirit of time-saving devices that increasingly appeared in American homes.

This object was donated by Donald Deskey. It is credited Gift of Donald Deskey.

Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 32.5 x 35.9 cm (12 13/16 x 14 1/8 in.) Mat: 35.6 × 45.7 cm (14 × 18 in.)

It has the following markings

Stamp in black ink, running up lower left margin: DONALD DESKEY / 501 MADISON AVENUE / NEW YORK CITY

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite, upper right: NOTES: / VENEER PANELS / BOTH SIDES ALSO / EDGES WITH / FORMICA / SEND FULL SIZE / DETAIL FOR APPROVAL; in graphite, lower right: #8148 [circled]; in graphite, lower left: -B-A-R- -R-O-O-M-; in graphite, lower right: -MANDEL-HOUSE-; in graphite: dimensions, views, materials, instructions

Cite this object as

Drawing, Design for Radio Cabinet, Bar Room, Richard H. Mandel House, 323 Haines Road, Bedford Hills, NY; Designed by Donald Deskey (American, 1894–1989); Client: Richard H. Mandel; graphite on tracing paper; H x W x D: 32.5 x 35.9 cm (12 13/16 x 14 1/8 in.) Mat: 35.6 × 45.7 cm (14 × 18 in.); Gift of Donald Deskey; 1988-101-1737

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18625025/ |title=Drawing, Design for Radio Cabinet, Bar Room, Richard H. Mandel House, 323 Haines Road, Bedford Hills, NY |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>