"Every designer should take himself to the Natural History museum
and look at the bugs and the butterflies and shells.
Nature is still the best designer"
Van Day Truex
One wonders if Tiffany & Co. would have ever made this Vermeiled Sterling Silver Strawberry Box, if Van Day Truex had not been such a Visionary. Would there have been someone else with his unique take on design to give us this simple elegance. It's Unlikely. An exact replica of the thin wooden berry boxes found in the grocery, Van Day Truex's genius is obvious here-not to mention his ability to read the desires of the rich. It seems that everything we see in our throw away culture is just that, perhaps we should look again.
the NY Herald Tribune said: 'When it comes to a question of taste he's splendidly opinionated, emphatically outspoken and dead right....Whether objects...are plain or elaborate,(they) are personal and look as though they were made for an individual rather than for the statistics on mass taste.' (December 8, 1960)
in John Loring's book Tiffany 20th C.Style- he likens the vermeil box to Dadaism and Surrealism. The work of Van Day Truex's remains highly individualistic- not to be likely to be repeated. Though the concept of taking simple objects and making household objects stylishly artlike is prevalent today, does anyone touch the modern genius of Van Day Truex?
A Vermeiled Sterling Strawberry Box!
Wouldn't you like to have one-
-it is almost time for strawberries?
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