executed by Zenith Radio Corp., Chicago
Bakelite
8 x 6¹⁄₂ x 6 in. (20.3 x 16.5 x 15.2 cm)
with manufacturer's mark ZENITH RADIO NURSE SOS DESIGN BY NOGUCHI PATENT APPLIED FOR 117 VOLTS-50/60 CYCLE-25 WATTS ZENITH RADIO CORP., CHICAGO

B. Altshuler, Noguchi, New York, 1994, p. 32
J. Stewart Johnson, American Modern, 1925-1940: Design for a New Age, New York, 2000, p. 164
Isamu Noguchi: Sculptural Design, Weil am Rhein, 2002, pp. 109-110, 155, and 287
Design: Isamu Noguchi and Isamu Kenmochi, New York, 2007, pp. 18-19

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Lot Essay

The 'Radio Nurse' baby monitor was one of the earliest industrial designs by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. It invokes both the solemnity of a Kendo warrior's mask, in which Noguchi acknowledges his Japanese heritage, and the American 'Machine Age' sculpture of the 1930s. Created as a sculptural form to be sited in a living room, the speaker was to be accompanied by the 'Guardian Ear' transmitter that would have been located in the infant's room. This device was first commissioned by Zenith Radio Corporation's president to monitor his daughter on his yacht, and was one of several sophisticated domestic security products created in the wake of the Lindbergh kidnapping in 1932.