Creamer with Cover

Art Historical Context

Beverly Chichester's *Creamer with Cover*c. 1939) is a delicate watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 26.2 x 18.8 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design (IAD), a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project, this work meticulously documents an everyday American artifact—a lidded creamer likely from the decorative arts tradition. Chichester's precise technique captures the object's form, texture, and subtle details, blending soft watercolor washes with sharp graphite lines to evoke the gleam of silver or porcelain. Launched in 1935 amid the Great Depression, the IAD employed over 400 artists to produce more than 15,000 renderings of American folk art, crafts, and design objects, preserving cultural heritage at a time when many pieces faced neglect or loss. Chichester, a skilled illustrator, contributed to this effort by transforming functional household items into celebrated works of art, highlighting the ingenuity of American craftsmanship. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's CG-W department, this piece underscores the IAD's enduring legacy: bridging fine art and design history. Visitors can appreciate how Chichester's rendering not only records a simple creamer but also celebrates the aesthetic beauty in America's domestic past.

About the Artist

Beverly Chichester · 1904–1967

Beverly Chichester was an American artist active in the mid-1930s and early 1940s, whose contributions to the Index of American Design reveal an eye particularly drawn to the world of American toys, dolls, and childhood objects. Working in watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard, Chichester produced a body of work distinguished by its delicacy of observation and its sympath...