See more objects with the tag stripes, food preparation, appliance, public, clients, brightly colored, tool, eating, presentation drawing, handle, product design.

See more objects with the color rosybrown khaki dimgrey or see all the colors for this object.

Object Timeline

1935

  • Work on this object began.

2000

2012

2015

2016

2025

  • You found it!

Drawing, Suggested Decorations for Implement Handles, for the Washburn Company

This is a Drawing. It was designed by Henry Dreyfuss. It is dated June 28, 1935 and we acquired it in 2000. Its medium is graphite, yellow, red crayon on tracing paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

In 1934 industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss was hired by the Washburn Company to redesign its range of kitchen tools. His design drawing and the final results [04] show that objects sometimes regarded as banal could rise to a level of visual distinction. Using a vocabulary of pure, geometric shapes and bright colors Dreyfuss combined functionality and a modern aesthetic to reinvent a category of utilitarian gadgets for the home.

It is credited Gift of Industrial Designers Society of America.

Our curators have highlighted 3 objects that are related to this one.

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 35.9 x 29.2cm (14 1/8 x 11 1/2in.) Mount: 36.7 × 30.5 cm (14 7/16 in. × 12 in.) Mat: 55.9 × 40.6 cm (22 × 16 in.)

It has the following markings

Stamped in black ink, lower right: HENRY DREYFUSS,- DESIGNER/501 MADISON AVENUE/NEW YORK - PLAZA 3-8030; lower left: DRAWING NO./DATE

It is inscribed

Inscribed in graphite, beneath handles, starting on left: numbers 1 through 4; center right: ALTERNATE:/TRY RUNNING/COLOR UP TO/MEET FERRULE (with arrow pointing to handle at right); lower left with drawing no:159; dated lower left/6-28-35; lower center: SUGGESTED DECORATIONS FOR HANDLES

Cite this object as

Drawing, Suggested Decorations for Implement Handles, for the Washburn Company; Designed by Henry Dreyfuss (American, 1904–1972); USA; graphite, yellow, red crayon on tracing paper; H x W x D: 35.9 x 29.2cm (14 1/8 x 11 1/2in.) Mount: 36.7 × 30.5 cm (14 7/16 in. × 12 in.) Mat: 55.9 × 40.6 cm (22 × 16 in.); Gift of Industrial Designers Society of America; 2000-11-7

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Energizing the Everyday: Gifts From the George R. Kravis II Collection.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18681945/ |title=Drawing, Suggested Decorations for Implement Handles, for the Washburn Company |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>