Marie Zimmermann: master of a dozen crafts
Date
2006
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Marie Zimmermann's (1879--1972) unflagging entrepreneurial spirit, technical virtuosity, and fiercely independent character resulted in an influential career spanning four decades. In addition to promoting her work, seeking patrons, teaching assistants, and establishing long-term business relationships, she designed, made, exhibited, and sold a stunning variety of useful and beautiful ornaments in virtually all media. A craftsperson's success and economic survival often depended on innovations in labor practices and artistic techniques, in addition to a comprehensive knowledge of the market, historical and modern design, and the natural world. Marie Zimmermann's career exemplifies these considerations, offering a fascinating case study for the way in which independent craftspeople created identities and maintained careers during the opening decades of the twentieth century in America. This essay combines biography with object evidence and period accounts in service of reconstructing and analyzing a career characterized by diligence, innovation, and self-invention.