This almost-minimal object of turned wood shows the possibility of infusing a functional object with a radical aesthetic. Note the upturned concave shape, perhaps reflecting the Dada belief in the topsy-turvy state of the world. Taueber-Arp applied the nascent Dada strategy of attacking the bourgeois sensibilities of a corrupt world to the decorative arts. This strategy accomplished several goals. The object straddles boundaries: it is representational and abstract, made by hand and uniform as if machine-produced, utilitarian, and aesthetic. At a time when abstraction was in the vanguard and the applied and fine arts strictly divided, this combination made the object impossible to categorize. Furthermore, the sleek upturned bowl translated the simple geometric forms then in vogue in avant-garde fine art into the three-dimensions of the material world, elegantly eradicating the division between art as representation and life. (http://www.theartstory.org/artist-taeuber-arp-sophie-artworks.htm#pnt_1) "This enigmatic object is made of turned wood, a medium usually associated with decorative or useful domestic wares; its title too evokes household functions. Even so, it stands as an independent sculpture, and in fact it is among the earliest examples of abstract sculpture in modern art. Because its components were made on a spinning lathe, it is strictly symmetrical, a quality once shunned in the fine arts, which favored the kind of arrangement that clearly demonstrated the judgment of the artist. On both counts - three-dimensional abstraction and symmetry--the applied arts provided a foundational logic for Taeuber-Arp's work. http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2012/inventingabstraction/img/works/223.jpg