A rare vintage 1960s handmade copper enamel in wood modernist Cat design box by California artist/enamelist Kay Whitcomb of San Diego. Entirely handmade one of a kind piece of vintage modernist enamel art by one of the preeminent mid century American enamelists! Here is a short biography of the artist from the Enamel Arts Foundation website: A major figure in American enameling, Kay Whitcomb was born in 1921 in Arlington, Massachusetts, to a long line of New England metalsmiths. Her work explored diverse subjects, and she incorporated words, phrases, and proverbs into it. She became versed in numerous techniques and started exploring unconventional methods of fusing glass to metal. By the late 1960s she was experimenting enameling on steel at factories in Germany and Belgium. Among her many large-scale works produced at Crahait Emailleries in Gosselies, Belgium, was a pair of eighty-four-by-thirty-two-inch doors, which were shown at California Design 11 at the Pasadena Art Museum in 1971. Her desire to share her knowledge led her to teach enameling at the La Jolla Art Museum and the San Diego Museum of Art shortly after her move to the region. She juried and curated numerous exhibitions and went to great efforts to keep enameling on public display. Besides exhibiting in Europe, she led the effort to have several American enamelists included in the prestigious International Biennial of Enamel Art in Limoges. Measures 10" long by 6.5" wide by 2.5" high at rim. Marked at front in lower right corner, "Kay Whitcomb '61", also has hand etched signature and date on back into the wood as shown. No doubt a one of a kind piece of enamel art, though I have seen a very similar design in a wall-hanging version in the collection of the Enamel Arts Foundation. There is some wear and discoloration to the wood sections of the box, and the white plexiglass liner inside as shown. Excellent vintage condition.
A rare and very large vintage 1960s Kay Whitcomb copper enamel and wood modernist Cat design box
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