Vanity set: hand mirror and hair brush
Elsa Tennhardt
(American, born in Germany, 1889–1980)
E. & J. Bass
(active 1890–about 1930)
designed 1928; made ca. 1928-30
Object PlaceNew York, New York
Medium/TechniqueSilverplate, glass, boar bristles
Credit LineThe John Axelrod Collection
Accession number2014.1290.1-2
On View
Not on viewClassificationsSilver
Collections
This hairbrush and hand mirror are each composed of three stacked traingles of varying sizes. The highly geometric, sharp-edged design to both French Cubism and Russian Constructivist styles. LIttle is known about Elsa Tennhardt, the designer of this vanity set, except that she was born in Germany and studied painting there before immigrating to the United States in 1911. Later, she taught painting at New York University.
ProvenanceBy 2007, owned by Gallerie Deco Collect, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada; March 31, 2007, sold to John Axelrod, Boston, Massachusetts; 2008, promised gift of John Axelrod to the Museum; 2014, gift of Axelrod to the MFA. (Accession date: October 29, 2014)
