VIKTOR SCHRECKENGOST FOR COWAN POTTERY, CIRCA 1931

Although designed at the outset of the Great Depression, Schreckengost's 'Jazz' bowl resonates with the spirit of the Roaring Twenties and the energy of New York City. Three versions of this iconic punch bowl were created, and because each bowl was hand decorated, only seventy or so in total were produced. The first, and largest version of the bowl, commissioned by then New York first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, was produced in an approximate edition of fifty. The second version, as presented here, with its flared rim and interior decoration, was realized in an extremely limited production of two or three, and the third variant, smallest in size and void of interior decoration, was produced in an edition of no more than twenty, according to the artist.
cf. Henry Adams, Viktor Schreckengost and 20th-Century Design, 2000, frontispiece and pp. 88-92, the three variants illustrated.
See also: Tamara Préaud and Serge Gauthier, Ceramics of the 20th Century, 1982, p.94, pl.154.