How you can identify a genuine Art Deco
coffee machine
The first Art Deco coffee machines,
weren’t sold as Art Deco, or even called
Art Deco. The term wasn’t coined until
the 1960s. At the time designers were
making coffee machines in the now
familiar idiom, they hadn’t come up with
a name for it. There was no conscious
movement. More often than not, it was
called the ‘Modern’ style – and it was
modernity that these pre-industrial
coffee machine designers aspired to.
The dream of automated production
Genuine Art Deco coffee machines date
back to the late 1920s. In stark
contrast to the flowing, organic lines
of Art Nouveau, Art Deco looked toward a
time of automation and fabrication – a
time that lay just beyond the grasp of
the technology then available. It’s this
fantasy of an age of industrial mass
production coupled with the extremely
skillful craftmanship that was required
to emulate it that embues Art Deco
coffee machines with their unique
tension and charm. It was all about
freedom. Designers believed that
automation would set mankind free.
It was also an age of class division.
Coffee drinking was still a ritual to be
enjoyed by the middle to upper classes.
Coffee sets, including cups, grinders,
urns and milk steamers were made of
quality materials. The apparent
indutrialisation of Art Deco coffee sets
belied their exclusivity in terms of
both materials and craftsmanship.
Top five ways to identify an Art Deco
coffee machine
There are five ways to identify a true
Art Deco coffee machine. Look for:
1. Blocky geometry and straight lines.
2. An attempt to create unnatural and
futuristic effects with the limited
materials available at the time.
3. Streamlining, in imitation of the
first streamlined vehicles such as cars
and trains. Once the combustion engine
was accepted as reliable vehicles became
streamlined in the pursuit of greater
speed – or at least the look of greater
speed. And the same streamlining was
applied to coffee machines.
4. Unashamedly industrial designs that
look hostile to humans. You’ll find Art
Deco cocktail glasses whose sharp,
square designs in the stem make them
hard to hold. Or spherical bakelite
ashtrays with a cross-shaped inset lid
that require a PhD to open. They were
meant to look automatic, from a world
of machines. They are not meant for
humans.
5. Innovation for innovation’s sake
often led to features beyond the scope
of the technology of the time.
The demise of the Art Deco coffee
machine
The post-war generation saw the dream of
fully-automated industrial production
become reality. Coffee machines, just
like cars, became available to all.
Design became more populist. The
idiosyncrasies of the one-off Art Deco
coffee machines were dropped in favour
of less challenging details and cheaper
materials. The age of the Art Deco
coffee machine came to an end before it
had ever earned its name. And the name
it earned says little of its industrial
aspirations, and more about its true
function – decoration and adornment for
the privileged.
Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Chris Lee
Ramsden is an enthusiastic cook and
experienced writer. Read more of our
reviews of coffee machines at the
Cooking Pot
Article Directory: Article Dashboard
Art Deco coffee machines are much sought after in the
antique world. The stule’s charm lies in the idealisation of
industrial automation before such production was possible.
In fact, these coffee machines are beautifully crafted items
from the last great age of craftsmanship. Find out how to
tell a mass-produced coffee machine from a true Art Deco
artifact – an idealistic fantasy of the modern age to come.
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