New photography by Pat Cagney captured with a digital camera.

Good Housekeeping Toaster

Artist Susan Taylor Glasgow (American, b. 1958)

Date2005

MediumCast glass with mixed media

DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 x 16 x 5 1/2 in. (29.2 x 40.6 x 14 cm)

ClassificationsGlass

Credit LineMuseum purchase in memory of Eva Wainger by her friends and family

Object number2005.25

Terms

Toaster
Woman
1950's
Clear
White
Black
Red
Light brown
Gray
Pink

On View

On view

DescriptionThis object is a glass sculpture in the shape of a toaster with a slice of bread, that has been fashioned from slumped, fused, sandblasted, and enameled flat glass, waxed linen thread, and plastic buttons. The toaster itself is made of slumped and fused colorless glass; the flat side, bent ends and top, are held together with a lacing of red and black waxed linen thread interspersed with plastic buttons. It has applied black handles on the ends, a pattern of the sandblasted "S" scrolls on the sides and an opaque white border running around the bottom that is ornamented with a repeating pattern of black crescents with red dots alternating with raised black dots. The flat glass "toast" that fits into the toaster slot is a cutout figure of a bread slice surmounted by a half length image of woman that has been appropriated from a 1950s advertisement. On one side the woman is smartly dressed in a white blouse and on the other she wears only her jewelry and brassiere.

Label TextSusan Taylor Glasgow American, b. 1958 Good Housekeeping Toaster, 2005 Cast glass with mixed media Museum purchase, in memory of Eva Wainger by her friends and family 2005.25 Once a seamstress, Susan Taylor Glasgow now applies her needle and thread to glass, creating witty sculptures that examine the American cult of domesticity. Her familiar objects-teapots, coffee cups, toasters, cakes, and corsets-are emblazoned with imagery and text from 1950s advertisements. She embraces the familiar images of femininity and domesticity in spirit, but only to question the stereotypes they reinforce. Taylor Glasgow's work is really about her mother and the mixed messages she delivered to the artist as a girl: "You can do anything, but learn to type first. Boys only want one thing, but don't say what it is. Do it right, or don't do it at all. Fall in love, but have something to fall back on." These conflicting messages led to a personal exploration of domestic expectations and the traditional roles of men and women, with the artist proclaiming her own "misguided domestic talents" through her art. She "cooks, arranges, and sews" glass, leaving the real housekeeping to someone else.