Pair of Teacups

Although Sargent Claude Johnson is best known for figural works, these teacups are a rare example of his functional objects. While he was perennially interested in exploring black identity, as in the sculpture Head of a Black Woman (2000.86), Johnson broadened his subject matter and experimented with materials over the course of his career. Here, he used contrasting semicircles and rectangles to shape the handles of the cups and carried this focus on geometric form into abstract patterns, silhouetted figures, and musical instruments.