Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1933

  • Work on this object began.

2021

2025

  • You found it!

Maquette, Maquette for B.P. Ethyl

This is a Maquette. It was designed by E. McKnight Kauffer and made for (as the client) Shell-Mex and BP Ltd..

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Merrill Berman as part of Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

It is dated 1933. Its medium is gelatin silver prints, cut paper, gouache and airbrush. It is a part of the department.


In the early 1930s, Kauffer acquired a cutting-edge Leica camera and began to experiment with photography. Photomontage emerged as an important element of his design practice. In some cases, such as with this lithograph, he used his own photography. Kauffer incorporated his photograph of a monumental sculpture from the Place de la Concorde in Paris to playfully allude to the term “horsepower.”

It is credited Collection of Merrill C. Berman.

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

Its dimensions are

38.7 × 54.6 cm (15 1/4 × 21 1/2 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Underground Modernist: E. McKnight Kauffer.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318805153/ |title=Maquette, Maquette for B.P. Ethyl |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=11 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>