Name/Title
Placemat: Early Lighting, Electro-Motive Division of GMDescription
A custom commission for the Electro-Motive Division of GM.
The four-screen/six-color print on off-white linen offers a review of lighting fixtures and illuminants from the Colonial era through early electricity. Fixtures include a Betty lamp, candlesticks and a candle sconce, a chandelier, a perforated tin lantern, a rush light holder, oil lamps, and at top center, an electric bulb with a pull chain (the chain has a dangling rooster fob, and the knob-and-tube electrical wiring is tacked to the face of the beam from left to center). A Country Prints pamphlet explaining the design was included with the set; see third and fourth images.
The Country Prints product tag states, “Designed by Robert Darr Wert for Electro-Motive Division of General Motors” (producer of electric locomotive train engines). These placemat sets were produced as gifts for an annual company convention and executive party. Wert produced at least three commissions for Electro-Motive’s annual meetings: two sets of placemats featuring early lighting fixtures and a set of three tiles illustrating Boston landmarks and their lighting fixtures produced in 1958.
The pamphlet states, “ We commissioned Mr. Wert to create something precisely in keeping with the occasion. He responded with this quaint conception of the history of illumination, fancifully depicted by instruments thereof as they might be grouped in a replica of an early American Kitchen.” The pamphlet also indicates that the silkscreens for this commission were destroyed upon completion of the run and this design would never be commercially available .
This is the first of the three commissions for GM Electro-Motive Division. It was produced for a party at their convention held at the South Shore Country Club in Chicago, June 4, 1957. The convention was held in a different city each year.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Robert Darr WertRole
ArtistManufacturer
Country PrintsDate made
1957Time Period
20th CenturyPlace
Location
Gill MA.Continent
North AmericaInscription/Signature/Marks
“r. darr wert”, lower left corner, and “by hand”, lower right corner.Material
Bleached Linen, Textile InkColors
Color
Brick Red, Yellow Ochre, Blue-Gray, Black, Brown, GreenColor Notes
Brown is produced by overprinting brick red and yellow ochre; green by overprinting blue gray and yellow ochre.
