Belle Kogan
Encyclopedia
Belle Kogan was a Russian born industrial designer and is regarded as the first prominent female in the profession in the United States as well as one of the founders of the profession itself. In 1994, she was recognized as a fellow of both the Industrial Designers Society of America
(IDSA) and Industrial Designers Institute(IDI).
instead, while teaching the class on mechanical drawing to fund herself. In 1920, she was forced to leave while in her first semester at Pratt to manage her father's jewelry store. During this time, she also attended the Art Students League in Manhattan
. In 1929, she was employed by the Quaker Silver Company, which trained her as a silver designer at Rhode Island School of Design
and the Germany Art School in Pforzheim
. In the summer of 1929, Quaker paid for Kogan to take a course at New York University
that according to Kogan:
She was one of the first industrial designers to experiment with plastics. Her early experimentation included celluloid toilet sets and clocks, a chrome-plated toaster with a plastic base, and Bakelite jewelry. While most designer's were only experimenting with polymers she said, "In plastics the manufacturer has a material with tremendous possibilities. It is still in the active process of growth and development, but is rapidly gaining its stride. It is a material which no manufacturer, if he be alert and watchful of his competition, can afford to overlook. Radios, clocks, dishes, jewelry—all being developed in plastics today—have enormous significance." Kogan believed that “good design should keep the consumer happy and the manufacturer in the black.” In an interview Kogan said, “Today there is probably no one group more keenly alive to the caprices and demands of the buying public as industrial designers. The designer's viewpoint, therefore, is a valuable one from the basis of manufacture as well as from the basis of merchandising and selling. It is a broad conception of the consumers' desire.”
After graduating from the Pratt Institute where she studied painting, Kogan went into the jewelry business with her father. In 1929 she turned to design and began her first work for the Karolith Corporation. She was employed by the Quaker Silver Co. in late 1929 through early 1930, before leaving for Kunstgewerbe Shule Germany where she took art classes. Kogan also provided designs for Ebeling & Reiss, Federal Glass Co., Red Wing Pottery
and Reed & Barton. She designed melamine dinnerware for the Boonton Modelling Co. where she worked for a number of years. She employed a full time staff a staff of three women designers by 1939. Kogan was the focus of the 1946 one-woman show at the Philadelphia Art Alliance
. By this time, she was considered to be the 'only woman freelance silverware designer'. Belle Kogan would continue to produce designs in America until 1970.
Notable clients:
Bakelite Corp.
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.
Boonton Molding
Brush Pottery Co.
Cameron Pottery
Celluloid Corporation 1935: D96260 hand mirror; D96261 hand mirror
Ceraton Mfg.
Chesler Clock Co.
Columbia Wax Works
Commercial Decal
Consolidated Lamp & Glass
Contessa
Cordey China & Lamp Co.
Dandee Products
David Fingerhut
Dow Chemical
Ebeling & Reuss—1936: [moderne] D101961 pitcher, D101959 sugar, D101958 for shape of Metropolis pattern cup & teapot D101960; 1935: [traditional and highly ornamented] D94915 cup, D94913 D94910 sugar; platter, D94914 saucer, D94912 teapot, D94911 plate, D94909 pitcher
Federal Glass—1942 D132021 drinking glass; 1941: D130743, glass mixing bowl; 1941 D 125275 glass nappy; D124859 glass nappy; 1940 D123056 glass pineapple;
Fredricksburg Art Pottery Co.
Gibraltor Clock Mfg.
Guy Hobbs Co.
Haviland China
Heller Hostessware
Hurwood Products Co.
J. V. Reed Co.
Jackko Products
Joseph Croog & Co.
Levy Brothers
Libbey Glass Co.
Lifetime Cutlery
Mallory Randall
Maryland Plastics Co.
Milbern Mfg.
Morris Heller & Sons
Muench Kreutler Candle Co.
National Brush
Nelson McCoy
Owens-Illinois Glass Company—drinking glass, D184285;
Plastic Manufacturers, Inc.
Porlon Plastics
Precision Products
Princeton China Corp.
Proctor Electrical Co.
Quaker Silver
Red Wing Potteries—1952: D168305 vase; D167838 vase;
Reed & Barton
R. F. Brodegaard & Co.
Robert Brodegaard
Roseville Pottery
Samuel Kirk & Sons
Snyder Mfg.
The Gailstyn Co.
Towle Manufacturing
United States Glass
Vontury Inc.
Warren Telechron—1935 D97939 timer case; 1934 D93663 duck clock case; 1934 D93228 clock case; 1934 D93662 pelican or rabbit clock case
Washington Co.
comments that “...women are forced to enter the labor force in new ways on the one hand, and continue the maintenance of familial heritage on the other.” Kogan chose a career saying, By the end of World War I, women had begun to enter the world of design. The entry was not always welcome though. In a 1939 interview, Kogan said “manufacturers were quite antagonistic when a woman came around proposing new ideas–they didn't think a woman knew enough about the mechanical aspects of the situation.” On one occasion,
Women designers took a practical approach to the design of housewares. Kogan was very much at the forefront of this. She remarked that Continuing Kogan said, “The women of today those who belong to the middle classes (and these are the women who comprise the greatest group of consumers) want attractive things, things which are smart and things which are new. They are still interested in keeping up with the ‘Joneses.’ Items, to be readily acceptable, cannot, however, be too extreme in design. Such items do not fit into the average home, decorated as it is, with objects which are not too modern or severe in color or form.”
, Walter Dorwin Teague
, and Norman Bel Geddes
began heading their own firms. Belle Kogan became the only woman of the time to do the same. Throughout her career she had a wide range of notable clients including Reed and Barton, Red Wing Pottery
, Bausch and Lomb, Boonton Molding, Libbey Glass, and Dow Chemical. She spoke on television and radio, gave lectures and interviews, wrote and exhibited her work frequently. In the late 1930s, she was one of the founding members of the New York chapter of the American Designers Insititute (ADI), which later evolved into the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI). She received the Personal Recognition Award in 1994 from the Industrial Designers Society of America
(IDSA).
Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America is an organization of professional industrial designers primarily in the United States. Recently IDSA has started chapters in Canada and in China...
(IDSA) and Industrial Designers Institute(IDI).
Early life and education
Kogan was born in Ilyashevka, Russia, on June 26, 1902 and emigrated to Allentown, PA in 1906. From an early age, she showed an interest in art. Regarding her senior year of high school, Kogan says, “...an unexplained inspiration on the part of my high school art teacher induced her to have me study Mechanical Drawing.” Kogan was the only girl in the class. She graduated Bethlehem High School with an art scholarship to Pennsylvania Academy of Art. However, after graduating, she opted to go to Pratt Institute in BrooklynPratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private art college in New York City located in Brooklyn, New York, with satellite campuses in Manhattan and Utica. Pratt is one of the leading undergraduate art schools in the United States and offers programs in Architecture, Graphic Design, History of Art and Design,...
instead, while teaching the class on mechanical drawing to fund herself. In 1920, she was forced to leave while in her first semester at Pratt to manage her father's jewelry store. During this time, she also attended the Art Students League in Manhattan
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. In 1929, she was employed by the Quaker Silver Company, which trained her as a silver designer at Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
and the Germany Art School in Pforzheim
Pforzheim
Pforzheim is a town of nearly 119,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is world-famous for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Until 1565 it was the home to the Margraves of Baden. Because of that it gained the nickname...
. In the summer of 1929, Quaker paid for Kogan to take a course at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
that according to Kogan:
Career
In July 1932, she opened her own office at 185 Madison Avenue in New York City with a retainer from Quaker and started designing houseware products for Libbey Glass, Federal Glass, US Glass, Towle Mfg. Co., Maryland Plastics, and Bakelite Corp. Five years later, she traveled throughout Europe to study trends in Scandinavian design and by 1939 found herself at the forefront of modern design in the United States.She was one of the first industrial designers to experiment with plastics. Her early experimentation included celluloid toilet sets and clocks, a chrome-plated toaster with a plastic base, and Bakelite jewelry. While most designer's were only experimenting with polymers she said, "In plastics the manufacturer has a material with tremendous possibilities. It is still in the active process of growth and development, but is rapidly gaining its stride. It is a material which no manufacturer, if he be alert and watchful of his competition, can afford to overlook. Radios, clocks, dishes, jewelry—all being developed in plastics today—have enormous significance." Kogan believed that “good design should keep the consumer happy and the manufacturer in the black.” In an interview Kogan said, “Today there is probably no one group more keenly alive to the caprices and demands of the buying public as industrial designers. The designer's viewpoint, therefore, is a valuable one from the basis of manufacture as well as from the basis of merchandising and selling. It is a broad conception of the consumers' desire.”
After graduating from the Pratt Institute where she studied painting, Kogan went into the jewelry business with her father. In 1929 she turned to design and began her first work for the Karolith Corporation. She was employed by the Quaker Silver Co. in late 1929 through early 1930, before leaving for Kunstgewerbe Shule Germany where she took art classes. Kogan also provided designs for Ebeling & Reiss, Federal Glass Co., Red Wing Pottery
Red Wing Pottery
Red Wing pottery refers to American stoneware, pottery, or dinnerware items made by any of various companies in Red Wing, Minnesota. The first known pottery was established in the late 1870s and production continued under various company names until the last business, Red Wing Potteries, Inc.,...
and Reed & Barton. She designed melamine dinnerware for the Boonton Modelling Co. where she worked for a number of years. She employed a full time staff a staff of three women designers by 1939. Kogan was the focus of the 1946 one-woman show at the Philadelphia Art Alliance
Philadelphia Art Alliance
The Philadelphia Art Alliance is a multidisciplinary arts center located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. It is the oldest multidisciplinary arts center in the United States for visual, literary and performing arts...
. By this time, she was considered to be the 'only woman freelance silverware designer'. Belle Kogan would continue to produce designs in America until 1970.
Selected works
----Notable clients:
Bakelite Corp.
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co.
Boonton Molding
Brush Pottery Co.
Cameron Pottery
Celluloid Corporation 1935: D96260 hand mirror; D96261 hand mirror
Ceraton Mfg.
Chesler Clock Co.
Columbia Wax Works
Commercial Decal
Consolidated Lamp & Glass
Contessa
Cordey China & Lamp Co.
Dandee Products
David Fingerhut
Dow Chemical
Ebeling & Reuss—1936: [moderne] D101961 pitcher, D101959 sugar, D101958 for shape of Metropolis pattern cup & teapot D101960; 1935: [traditional and highly ornamented] D94915 cup, D94913 D94910 sugar; platter, D94914 saucer, D94912 teapot, D94911 plate, D94909 pitcher
Federal Glass—1942 D132021 drinking glass; 1941: D130743, glass mixing bowl; 1941 D 125275 glass nappy; D124859 glass nappy; 1940 D123056 glass pineapple;
Fredricksburg Art Pottery Co.
Gibraltor Clock Mfg.
Guy Hobbs Co.
Haviland China
Heller Hostessware
Hurwood Products Co.
J. V. Reed Co.
Jackko Products
Joseph Croog & Co.
Levy Brothers
Libbey Glass Co.
Lifetime Cutlery
Mallory Randall
Maryland Plastics Co.
Milbern Mfg.
Morris Heller & Sons
Muench Kreutler Candle Co.
National Brush
Nelson McCoy
Owens-Illinois Glass Company—drinking glass, D184285;
Plastic Manufacturers, Inc.
Porlon Plastics
Precision Products
Princeton China Corp.
Proctor Electrical Co.
Quaker Silver
Red Wing Potteries—1952: D168305 vase; D167838 vase;
Reed & Barton
R. F. Brodegaard & Co.
Robert Brodegaard
Roseville Pottery
Samuel Kirk & Sons
Snyder Mfg.
The Gailstyn Co.
Towle Manufacturing
United States Glass
Vontury Inc.
Warren Telechron—1935 D97939 timer case; 1934 D93663 duck clock case; 1934 D93228 clock case; 1934 D93662 pelican or rabbit clock case
Washington Co.
A Woman in a Man’s World
Women had little or no place in the workshop or factory before the 1860s. “Their entry into design education and practice coincided with their emergence as patrons, clients and customers at the turn of the century.” Social-cultural anthropologist Arjun AppaduraiArjun Appadurai
Arjun Appadurai is a contemporary social-cultural anthropologist focusing on modernity and globalization, based in New York.Appadurai was born in Mumbai , India and educated in India before coming to the United States. He graduated from St...
comments that “...women are forced to enter the labor force in new ways on the one hand, and continue the maintenance of familial heritage on the other.” Kogan chose a career saying, By the end of World War I, women had begun to enter the world of design. The entry was not always welcome though. In a 1939 interview, Kogan said “manufacturers were quite antagonistic when a woman came around proposing new ideas–they didn't think a woman knew enough about the mechanical aspects of the situation.” On one occasion,
Women designers took a practical approach to the design of housewares. Kogan was very much at the forefront of this. She remarked that Continuing Kogan said, “The women of today those who belong to the middle classes (and these are the women who comprise the greatest group of consumers) want attractive things, things which are smart and things which are new. They are still interested in keeping up with the ‘Joneses.’ Items, to be readily acceptable, cannot, however, be too extreme in design. Such items do not fit into the average home, decorated as it is, with objects which are not too modern or severe in color or form.”
Impact
Industrial design emerges as a distinct profession in the United States in the late 1920s. Competition between companies created by the Depression led companies to focus on visual form to increase sales. This placed increasing emphasis on the in-house industrial designer as a key component of industrial production. Men such as Raymond LoewyRaymond Loewy
Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...
, Walter Dorwin Teague
Walter Dorwin Teague
Walter Dorwin Teague was an American architect, designer and one of the most prolific American industrial designers in terms of volume of completed work. Teague's name and vision lives on through the legacy of his company....
, and Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Bel Geddes
Norman Melancton Bel Geddes was an American theatrical and industrial designer who focused on aerodynamics....
began heading their own firms. Belle Kogan became the only woman of the time to do the same. Throughout her career she had a wide range of notable clients including Reed and Barton, Red Wing Pottery
Red Wing Pottery
Red Wing pottery refers to American stoneware, pottery, or dinnerware items made by any of various companies in Red Wing, Minnesota. The first known pottery was established in the late 1870s and production continued under various company names until the last business, Red Wing Potteries, Inc.,...
, Bausch and Lomb, Boonton Molding, Libbey Glass, and Dow Chemical. She spoke on television and radio, gave lectures and interviews, wrote and exhibited her work frequently. In the late 1930s, she was one of the founding members of the New York chapter of the American Designers Insititute (ADI), which later evolved into the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI). She received the Personal Recognition Award in 1994 from the Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America is an organization of professional industrial designers primarily in the United States. Recently IDSA has started chapters in Canada and in China...
(IDSA).
External links
- Information on the Belle Kogan Papers, http://siris-archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!212798!0
- Belle Kogan Fact Sheet http://modish.net/belle-kogan-industrial-designer-fact-sheet-work-progress
- Collection of rare Zippo lighters designed by Belle Kogan http://zippogallery.com/BelleKogan.htm
- http://www.google.com/patents?id=8FJsAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=belle+kogan&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_1#PPA1,M1 by Belle Kogan, Patent: Design for Cup
- http://www.google.com/patents?id=MfR5AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#PPA1,M1 by Belle Kogan, Patent: Design for a Clock Case