Photo By Gail

Before ascending to the heavens, this Glass of Whiskey  (1949) toured the world. In the pages of Life and Newsweek magazines, it could be seen surmounting arctic slopes, and traveling by train. It sweated deckside on a luxury liner, rode a Ferris wheel, and went sledding. Meticulously staged by the pioneering color photographer Anton Breuhl (1900 – 1982), such absurd tableaux conjured worldly associations for his client, the mid-tier Kentucky distiller Four Roses.
Against all odds, these eye-catching scenarios were not darkroom, fabrications; Bruehl constructed them by hand, with the help of miniaturists, set dressers, and a celebrity florist.

Testing appetites for novelty, illusion, and abundance – all standbys of 20th century advertising –  against the limits of good taste, wager that this crisp simulacrum would slake your thirst, then melt into hot air.

Photographed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City