Isamu Noguchi (American, 1904-1988) Radio Nurse and Guardian Ear, Zenith Radio Corporation, USA, 1937

Bakelite, enameled steel
The Radio Nurse with molded information panel: "Zenith Radio Nurse, Design by Noguchi, Patent Applied For, 117 Volts - 50/60 Cycle - 25 Watts, Zenith Radio Corp., Chicago"
The Guardian Ear with stamped metal information panel: "The Guardian Ear of the Radio Nurse, Patent Applied For, 117 Volts - 50/60 Cycle - 25 Watt, Zenith Radio Corp., Chicago"

H: 8 1/4, W: 6 3/4, D: 6 3/8 in. (Radio Nurse); H: 6 1/4, W: 4 1/4, D: 8 1/4 in. (Guardian Ear)

Literature

Bruce Altchuler, Noguchi, Abbeville, pg. 32 (for an illustration and discussion of the model)
Russell Flinchum, American Design, MOMA, p. 66
David Hanks, The Century of Modern Design, Flammarion, pp. 66-67
Isamu Noguchi, The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, Abrams, pg. 231 (for a reference and recollection by Noguchi on the model)
Richard Guy Wilson, The Machine Age in America: 1918-1941, Brooklyn Museum / Abrams, pg. 333 (for an illustration and discussion of the model)

Note

Examples of this model are held in the permanent collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, Henry Ford Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, San Francisco Museum of Art, Dallas Museum of Art, Cooper Hewitt, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Oakland Museum of California, MAK Museum Vienna, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and others.

Provenance

Property From a Private Pennsylvania Collection