Officer's Mess Knife
c. 1938
Medium
watercolor and graphite on paper
Dimensions
overall: 22.5 x 30.6 cm (8 7/8 x 12 1/16 in.)
Classification
Index of American Design
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Index of American Design
Accession Number
1943.8.9580
Art Historical Context
Vincent P. Rosel's *Officer's Mess Knife* (c. 1938) is a meticulous watercolor and graphite rendering on paper, measuring 22.5 x 30.6 cm. Created as part of the Index of American Design—a groundbreaking WPA Federal Art Project from the 1930s—this artwork documents a finely crafted table knife likely used in military officers' messes. Rosel, one of many skilled artists employed by the initiative, captures the knife's elegant form, handle details, and subtle sheen with precision, highlighting everyday American craftsmanship from an earlier era. The Index of American Design, active between 1935 ...
About the Artist
Vincent P. Rosel
Vincent P. Rosel is an artist about whom very limited documentation survives in the accessible art historical record. His dates, nationality, artistic training, and the scope of his career have not been definitively established in scholarly sources, placing him among the many figures whose names appear in collection records but whose biographies remain to be recovered. Where works attributed to R...