Belle Kogan was one of the first female industrial designers in the United States. Committed to succeeding in a male-dominated field, Kogan opened her own consulting firm in 1932. Kogan’s talent garnered partnerships with prestigious manufacturers including the Boonton Molding Company for whom she designed tableware between 1949 and 1962. As one of the few industrial designers to recognize the importance of women consumers in postwar America, she approached her designs with an eye toward practicality and aesthetics. In both color and form, wares like the creamer shown here were mass-produced, affordable, durable, and blended seamlessly into the growing number of middle class homes.

Adapted from

Charles L. Venable, Ellen P. Denker, Katherine C. Grier, Stephen G. Harrison, China and Glass in America, 1880-1980: From Tabletop to TV Tray (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000), 342-343.

• Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  Read more about Belle Kogan.

• Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  View a drawing by Belle Kogan of a creamer.