Our 1970s Seymour Mann canister is pure sunshine in ceramic form. The showpiece is the lid: a hand-painted, sculptural cluster of trompe l’oeil seashells piled on top. Each shell is individually modeled and glazed with naturalistic color and texture, giving the piece real dimensionality against the bright yellow ground.
This playful, coastal-inspired novelty style was typical of Seymour Mann’s 1970s output, an era when the company was importing whimsical, hand-finished decorative ware for the American department store market.
Founded in 1946 as Lipper & Mann, the company originally imported European ceramics and fine glass before expanding to Japanese imports. In 1963, Seymour Mann sold his interest to partner, and establishedSeymour Mann Inc.Over the next 50 years, his new company became a leading US importer of Asian decorative arts. In the 1970s, Mann began producing majolica-style pieces, novelty barware, and hand-painted decorative ceramics.
Equal parts quirky collectible and functional storage, this is perfect for organizing a vanity, styling a coffee bar, or adding a sculptural element to a bookshelf.
