Spotlight on Ernest Sohn Creations

One of America's great treasure troves has been the many talented
ceramic designers that graced our countries' mid-century. One of the
most gifted & prolific giftware designers of this period was Ernest
Sohn (1913- ).

Sohn came to this country in 1936 to escape the fury of the führer.
Though Sohn's university education was interrupted, he continued his
studies as an autodidact, spending many hours at the New York Public
Library on 42nd street.

Sohn did some free-lance work for Glidden and Red Wing before
settling in with his first job for Rubel & Co. from about 1945-1951.
Here, Sohn continued to design for Glidden. He is responsible for some
of the decorations for Glidden's Menagerie and Circus lines. In 1951,
Sohn established Ernest Sohn Associates with his own showroom (Room
1039) at 225 5th Avenue in New York City. That same year, Jack
Orenstein, who had been general sales manager for Everlast Metal
Products, started his own firm, Jack Orenstein Associates. Orenstein
would immediately become the exclusive sales agent for Ernest Sohn's
designs that featured mixed media in metal, wood, and ceramic.

By the mid-fifties, Ernest Sohn had formed Ernest Sohn Creations,
Inc. Many of the product lines seen today are stamped or tagged with the
Ernest Sohn Creations label. Sohn's work brought elegance to both
casual and formal dining. His designs are oversized but not overstated.
He enjoyed working in many media. His work garnered Good Design awards
from MOMA in the 1950s.

Sohn's ceramic parts were manufactured by Hall China. The quality of
Hall China is seen in the many thousands of pieces that have stood the
test of time and still look fantastic.

Unfortunately, no ephemera has been located to delineate the extent
of these lines, many of which were large giftware lines. Most of the
information about Sohn's lines comes from trade journal advertisements
and articles.

Ernest Sohn was a prolific designer. Almost everyday we are
rediscovering items innovated by him. Sohn enjoyed the use of mixing
metal, wood, and ceramic for dramatic effect. Look at the pitcher to
the right. The gracefulness of this pitcher is accented by the screw cap
at the top of the pitcher that fastens the handle to the ceramic body.
One of the tenets of good mid-century modern design was to make
structure a part of the design, not disguise it. The screw cap adds nice
punctuation to the graceful curves of this object.