Belle Kogan papers, 1920-1986

Kogan, Belle, b. 1902 d. 2000
Author, Designer
New York, N.Y.; Israel

Collection size: 0.5 linear ft.

Collection Summary: Correspondence, speeches and lectures, a thesis, drawings, sketchbooks, photographs and printed material by and concerning Belle Kogan and her design work in plastics, ceramics, jewelry, silver, and glass for the home industry from the late 1940s through the 1970s.

Included are scattered correspondence, 1942-1986, regarding a monetary donation to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and other business-related activities; speeches and lectures given by Belle Kogan, 1950-1955; a thesis on Kogan by Helen Rice, titled "Belle Who?", prepared for the Graduate Progam in Industrial Design at the University of Illinois-Urbana, 1982; printed material, 1937-1972, including articles by and about Kogan, an exhibition catalog, publicity material, and material about her designs for silverware, ceramics, glassware, plastics, Boontonware (Melamine), and other household objects; photographs of portraits painted in 1927-1928; two drawings and 8 renderings, 1920-1930; and 6 sketchbooks of designs and studies of jewelry and silver, for the Quaker Silver Co., and for art classes in Kunstgewerbe Shule, Germany, 1929-1930.

Biographical/Historical Note: Industrial designer; New York, N.Y. 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 did 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.

Donated 1990 and 1993 by Belle Kogan. Additional papers to come, including notebooks, art work, and photographs of work.

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