An Arts and Crafts spun copper footed vessel with a flaring rim and a dark, dramatic midnight blue patina by Marie Zimmermann (1879-1972). The bowl dates circa 1915 while this noted American metalsmith, jeweler and designer maintained a workshop studio and showroom at the National Arts Club at Gramercy Park in New York.
Zimmermann is well known for the attention she lavished on the surfaces of her objects and this blue finish is one of her most rare; one other copper vessel with a dark blue patina is currently displayed in the American Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Zimmermann experimented with combinations of heat, chemicals, enamels and a range of pigments, varnishes and wax to achieve a range of artistic finishes for many of her designs in metalwork. Examples of copper vessels decorated with unique shades of butterscotch, verdigris, red and blue patinations are illustrated and discussed on pages 236-240 in The Jewelry and Metalwork of Marie Zimmermann, 2012.
The bowl is in good condition, no dings or dents but some surface wear and several scratches at the bottom of the interior. Stamped MARIE ZIMMERMANN MAKER around her MZ cipher underfoot, measuring 6.5 in. diameter (at rim) x 4 in. H.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City holds the largest collection of objects by Marie Zimmermann, making their first acquisition in 1922. A variety of her jewelry and metalwork designs are also in the collections of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Edsel & Eleanor Ford House, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Wolfsonian-Florida International University and the Columbus Museum of Art.
