Art Deco Bar Cabinet With Inlaid Mythological Figures by Andrew Szoeke

This masterpiece of cabinetmaking and wood inlay, by America’s greatest artist working in this manner during the Art Deco era, is a two-level liquor cabinet that is enriched with rondels featuring nude Greek goddesses — Erato and Amphitrite. Erato, the patron of lyric poetry or hymns, is shown playing a lyre, with a delighted gazelle to one side; and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea, is shown in a tangle of seaweed and accompanied by a crab. The artist was Andrew Szoeke, who was admired in his day as one of the great graphic artists of America, putting his mastery of form and silhouette to work in furniture, type design, graphic design and Fine arts. His artisanry reached its peak in his elaborate furniture and decorative objects which featured his tour de force wood inlay, and we consider this the best work of his career. Here he used a burled wood, stained a ruddy color, and his wood inlay is especially fluid and fine. The interior storage cabinet is absolutely beautiful, as if it had been made yesterday.