  About the Artwork
  
  
  In 1979 eleven international architects were commissioned to design limited-edition tea and coffee services by the Italian firm Alessi. Every set had to include six pieces and had to function in the normal way. Perhaps not unexpectedly, many of the services look like tiny buildings or parts of buildings.
  
  
  Title
  Spoon
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1983
  
  
  
  
  Makers
  
  
  Michael Graves  (Designer)
  American, 1934 - 2015
  Alessi, S.p.a.  (Manufacturer)
  Italian, founded 1921
  
  
  
  Medium
  Silver plate, lacquered aluminum, Bakelite, glass, and mock ivory
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 4 1/8 × 1 1/8 × 3/8 inches (10.5 × 2.9 × 1 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Silver
  
  
  Department
  Contemporary Art after 1950
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase with funds from Founders Junior Council, James Pearson Duffy Fund, Lenora and Alfred Glancy Foundation Fund, Modern Decorative Arts and Sculpture Fund, Dr. and Mrs. George Kamperman Fund, Mr. and Mrs. Alvan Macauley, Jr. Fund
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  1986.27.5
  
  
  Copyright
  Courtesy of Max Protetch Gallery
