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The Manhattan Piece Smoking Jewelry
This is a Smoking Jewelry. It was designed by Otto Künzli. It is dated 1987 and we acquired it in 2016. Its medium is dannemann cigarillos box, brass, rubber, resin (ureol), paper, linen (book). It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
When confronted with an active anti-smoking campaign during a 1988 visit to New York, Künzli took a stand “against fanatical discrimination” exploiting the magical and ritual aspects of smoking itself. Künzli’s inherently subversive approach to the function of jewelry as a tool for non-conformity is expressed with biting humor in The Manhattan Piece and its accompanying manual on how to use it most effectively.
This object was
donated by
Susan Lewin.
It is credited The Susan Grant Lewin Collection, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
- Matchsafe And Cigar Cutter
- plated brass, cut steel, wood.
- Gift of Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener.
- 1978-146-121
- Smoking Stand (Tabako-Bon) Box
- wood, lacquer, gold, silver, brass.
- Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Maxime Hermanos.
- 1966-6-4-a/h
- Young Man Smoking Matchsafe
- cast and incised silver.
- Gift of Stephen W. Brener and Carol B. Brener.
- 1978-146-231
Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.
- Ejector Cheroot Holder
- silver, casein formaldehyde.
- The Carolyn Hsu-Balcer Collection.
- 73.2016.3
Its dimensions are
H x W x D (Box Closed): 1.5 × 8.7 × 11.3 cm (9/16 × 3 7/16 × 4 7/16 in.) H x W x D (Box Open): 1.5 × 8.7 × 22.2 cm (9/16 × 3 7/16 × 8 3/4 in.)
It has the following markings
Printed on the box cover, 'Manhattan Piece' and 'Otto Kunzli'.
Cite this object as
The Manhattan Piece Smoking Jewelry; Designed by Otto Künzli (Swiss, b. 1948); dannemann cigarillos box, brass, rubber, resin (ureol), paper, linen (book); H x W x D (Box Closed): 1.5 × 8.7 × 11.3 cm (9/16 × 3 7/16 × 4 7/16 in.) H x W x D (Box Open): 1.5 × 8.7 × 22.2 cm (9/16 × 3 7/16 × 8 3/4 in.); The Susan Grant Lewin Collection, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; 2016-34-65-a/d
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Jewelry of Ideas: Gifts from the Susan Grant Lewin Collection.
