Cake Mold
1938
Medium
watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard
Dimensions
overall: 29.8 x 39.7 cm (11 3/4 x 15 5/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 3 3/8" High 8 1/2" Dia 3 1/8" Deep
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.6195
Art Historical Context
Behold the intricate *Cake Mold*, a 1938 watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite rendering by artist Charles Moss, capturing a humble yet essential piece of American kitchenware. Measuring 29.8 x 39.7 cm overall, this detailed depiction showcases the mold's elegant form—3 3/8 inches high, 8 1/2 inches in diameter, and 3 1/8 inches deep—likely crafted for baking ring-shaped cakes, evoking the warmth of Depression-era home baking traditions. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a Federal Art Project under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1935 to 1942, Moss's work ...
About the Artist
Charles Moss
Charles Moss is an artist whose work appears in museum collections in notable quantity, attesting to a sustained and recognized practice even though the biographical details — his dates, nationality, and the particular tradition in which he was trained — have not been thoroughly recorded in the art-historical literature currently available. The name Charles Moss is common enough to pose identifica...