Art Deco Kensington Ware "Gainsborough" Vase

In 1934, the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) in New Kensington, Pennsylvania established a new division called Kensington, Inc., to manufacture a decorative giftware line during the Art Deco period. The giftware line was designed by the famed industrial designer, Lurelle Guild.

This "Gainsborough Vase" ( cat. no. 7029) is probably one of the most modernist designs from the company, and it is my favorite item from the giftware line. The giftware line used an aluminum alloy that is whiter in color than pure aluminum, and to me, it resembles sterling silver. The shaped aluminum alloy base with the wavy lines provides a striking contrast to the cobalt glass vase insert. This is a rather large vase, measuring 9''high and and 5 3/4'' diameter at the top.

These vases used to be fairly common to find about 10 years ago, but they are increasingly rare to find now--probably because they are ending up in many collections of people who like the classic Machine Age design.