Jeff Koons: Banality Series Espresso Set
Designed by Jeff Koons in collaboration with Bernardaud, this limited-edition set of six three-ounce espresso cups and saucers highlights the artist’s Banality series. Each cup features a reproduction of a work from the series, including Bear and Policeman, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, Vase of Flowers, Ushering in Banality, Winter Bears, and Woman in Tub (all 1988).
Working with traditional craftspeople, Koons rendered the subjects in this series in gilt porcelain and polychromed wood, materials more often associated with decorative housewares than with contemporary art. He conceived of Banality as an elaborate allegory, aimed at freeing one to embrace without embarrassment our childhood affection for toys and trinkets.
Producer: Bernardaud
Year: 2013
Material: Glazed Limoges porcelain in presentation box
Dimensions: Cups: each 3 1/4 × 2 1/4 × 2 1/4 inches (8.3 × 5.7 × 5.7 cm); Saucers: each 4 7/8 × 4 7/8 inches (12.4 × 12.4 cm)
Edition: Edition of 4,500
Signed: Printed signature on verso
