Cocktail Cabinet thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Cocktail Cabinet

1933 (designed and made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Like many interior designers, Maurice Adams was a talented self-promoter and a canny businessman. Despite being the self-professed 'originator and inventor' of the revived georgian style that he called ‘King George V’ style, when the tides of taste turned in the 1930s towards an increasingly modernist style, Adams took a pragmatic approach, abandoning his traditional style for the sleeker lines of modernism.

This cocktail cabinet shows the final stage in Adams's transition from Revivalist to Modernist. Its compact form and use of 'modern' materials such as chrome and glass, marked a radical departure from the richly figured veneers and classic shapes employed by Adams in the past. Adams's designs also underwent a dramatic reduction in scale, adjusting to the shrinking residential space offered by modern London flats.

The cabinet was conceived as part of a scheme for a ‘cocktail room’, reflecting the newly cosmopolitan age. With silver walls, an illuminated glass ceiling and furnishings in red cellulose and chromium, the room was designed to be the last word in sophistication. Other cocktail-related objects produced by Adams for this age of convenience and sociability were a built-in cocktail cupboard for the study and a streamlined cocktail bar for the kitchen.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Cocktail Cabinet
  • Key
Materials and techniques
Ebonsied mahogany with chromium mounts and glass galleries
Brief description
Cocktail cabinet, British, 1933, designed by Maurice Adams and manufactured by Maurice Adams Ltd
Physical description
Ebonised mahogany with chromium mounts. The cabinet comprises a half-circle table or stand supporting the cocktail cabinet proper. Dimensions are so arranged that when the doors of the cabinet are open, their width is the same as that of the table below. Each door carries four glass galleries, while bottles and decanters are accommodated on shelves inside the cupboard. The projecting portion of the stand serves as a table for drinks when in use.

Description taken from accession register.
Dimensions
  • Height: 1837mm
  • Width: 1205mm
  • Depth: 630mm
Style
Gallery label
  • Cocktail Cabinet. Designed by Maurice Adams (British, died 1941). Made by Maurice Adams Ltd., Bedford Park, London. Ebonised mahogany with rustless metal casing and mounts. 1933.(Jan 1989)
  • 20th Century Gallery: Cocktail Cabinet. Designed by Maurice Adams (British, 1849-1933). Made by Maurice Adams Ltd., Bedford Park, London, Great Britain, 1933. Ebonised mahogany with rustless metal casing and chromium mounts. Adams, self-professed inventor of the 'King George V' style, a form of neo-Queen Anne, was converted to a 'modern' style after the work of the French artist-decorators received a high profile at the 1925 Paris Exhibition. This cabinet is a fine example of his 'modern' style and of a new furniture type.
Summary
Like many interior designers, Maurice Adams was a talented self-promoter and a canny businessman. Despite being the self-professed 'originator and inventor' of the revived georgian style that he called ‘King George V’ style, when the tides of taste turned in the 1930s towards an increasingly modernist style, Adams took a pragmatic approach, abandoning his traditional style for the sleeker lines of modernism.

This cocktail cabinet shows the final stage in Adams's transition from Revivalist to Modernist. Its compact form and use of 'modern' materials such as chrome and glass, marked a radical departure from the richly figured veneers and classic shapes employed by Adams in the past. Adams's designs also underwent a dramatic reduction in scale, adjusting to the shrinking residential space offered by modern London flats.

The cabinet was conceived as part of a scheme for a ‘cocktail room’, reflecting the newly cosmopolitan age. With silver walls, an illuminated glass ceiling and furnishings in red cellulose and chromium, the room was designed to be the last word in sophistication. Other cocktail-related objects produced by Adams for this age of convenience and sociability were a built-in cocktail cupboard for the study and a streamlined cocktail bar for the kitchen.
Collection
Accession number
W.96-1978

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Record createdOctober 17, 2006
Record URL
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