J.S. Pate Machine Age Chrome & Wood Bookends, c. 1937

A pair of Machine Age sculptural bookends by J.S. Pate of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, each pairing a black-finished hardwood hemisphere with a curling ribbon of polished chromium-plated steel that scrolls inward to a tight cylindrical coil. Set facing one another, the two pieces resolve into a single balanced composition — half-spheres anchoring the volume, chrome ribbons unspooling outward in mirrored counterpoint. The undersides are stamped "J.S. Pate / Design No. 95E / Mechan'l. PA. / No. 2073941," referencing U.S. Patent 2,073,941, issued March 16, 1937 to J.S. Pate for ornamental bookend design.

Pate's late-1930s output sits squarely in the Machine Age idiom that Walter von Nessen, Donald Deskey, and Norman Bel Geddes were popularizing in the same years — sheet metal treated as a sculptural ribbon, geometric primitives juxtaposed against reflective industrial surfaces. The patent date places these on the cusp between Art Deco streamlining and the early Modernist vocabulary that would carry into the postwar era. Felt-lined backs and ribbed banding are consistent with original construction.

CONDITION

Good overall with strong sculptural presence and legible factory markings. The chrome shows scratching, light scuffing, and some surface haze; the black wood hemispheres exhibit chipping along the lower edges and scattered nicks to the painted finish.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Smaller bookend: 4.25" H × 5.5" W × 5" D
• Larger bookend: 5.25" H × 7.25" W × 6" D
• Materials: Chromium-plated steel and painted hardwood
• Marked: J.S. Pate, Design No. 95E, Mechanicsburg, PA, No. 2073941
• U.S. Patent No. 2,073,941, issued March 16, 1937
• Campbell's Soup Can (4" H) Shown for Scale