See more objects with the tag fluted, entertaining, cocktail, nightlife.

Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

1923

  • Work on this object began.

1933

  • Work on this object ended.

2015

2017

2025

  • You found it!

Cocktail Shaker With Tray

This is a Cocktail shaker with tray. It is dated ca. 1928. Its medium is sterling silver. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.

While most of the Danish architect Karl Fisker’s forays into silver exhibited swooping curves and graceful forms reminiscent of art nouveau, this cocktail tray and shaker stand in stark contrast; the shaker takes the form of a fluted column while the tray, also fluted at its edges, takes the form of a stylized and corrugated cog wheel. A melding of classicism and machine age aesthetics, this cocktail shaker represents a highpoint of Danish silvermaking in the interwar period. In 1928, House and Garden illustrated this reeded cocktail shaker and tray. The copy noted that the architect and interior designer Eugene Schoen had imported the set for sale in his New York store.[1] Schoen, active in introducing New Yorkers to European modernisms, had set up his business at 115 East 60th Street, where he displayed full model rooms for consumers to imagine how his retail fantasies could become a domestic reality. This important retail link cements this cocktail shaker and tray’s appeal for the modern American consumer.

This object was donated by George R. Kravis II. It is credited Gift of George R. Kravis II.

Our curators have highlighted 6 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

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Its dimensions are

H x diam. (shaker): 22.9 × 8.3 cm (9 in. × 3 1/4 in.) Diam. (tray): 22.9 cm (9 in.)

It has the following markings

"1921 – 28 OKTOBER – 1946/KAY FISKER/ Helle-Vibeke/NIELS-HELGE/1946" with various hallmarks, impressed on bottom of shaker; "KAY FISKER/925S/1946"/"AM" in shield and other hallmarks, impressed on bottom of tray

Cite this object as

Cocktail Shaker With Tray; sterling silver; H x diam. (shaker): 22.9 × 8.3 cm (9 in. × 3 1/4 in.) Diam. (tray): 22.9 cm (9 in.); Gift of George R. Kravis II; 2018-22-44-a/c

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/404536705/ |title=Cocktail Shaker With Tray |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>