This owl looks remarkably like a silver sculpture but is in fact a cocktail shaker. Perched on a detachable base, the owl is sleek in design but fairly true-to-form in the animal's features and overall sculptural style. It is monochrome, has a smooth surface, and you can see layers of feathers on its head, at the bottom of its wings, and near its feet. There is a small indentation around its neck to suggest that is where you can remove the top and mix the drink in its body.

See more objects with the tag tableware, silver, barware, cocktail.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1931	Work on this object began.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Object ID #907130211

This is a Cocktail Shaker.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from The Art Institute of Chicago as part of The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

It is dated 1931. Its medium is silver.

During Prohibition drinking accessories often hid their function, taking on playful new designs including skyscrapers, animals, and even a Zeppelin. Individual silversmiths and manufacturers expanded to include these novelties.

It is credited Lent by The Art Institute of Chicago, Restricted gift of Quinn E. Delaney; Wesley M. Dixon, Jr. Fund, 1990.179.