On February 27, 2024, LiveAuctioneers published an article in their Auction Central News website section titled “Walter Dorwin Teague, dean of industrial design.” The article describes the journey of Teague’s design career and includes a paragraph about his time at Steuben.

“Walter Dorwin Teague was arguably the foremost industrial designer of the mid-20th century, establishing partnerships with leading manufacturers and lending his unique approach and aesthetic to a wide variety of consumer products, from radios and cameras to automobiles and airliners,” said Samantha Robinson, director of arts and design at Heritage Auctions.  “His designs merged form and function in a moment of rapid technological and commercial expansion, and established many design principles and practices that continue to this day.”

The article speaks to the different companies Teague designed for including Kodak, Texaco, Boeing, and Ford. If you’re interested in more of the details about his varied career, you can read the full article here.

Tom Dimitroff in his book “Frederick Carder and Steuben Glass” states that Walter Teague was hired in 1932 as part of Steuben’s new direction for their glassware.  He was given three goals: Design a modern glassware series, enhance the line of architectural products, and improve Corning’s “Pyrex” designs.

Tom also says Teague strongly felt that he could stimulate demand for Steuben glass by cultivating taste and pride of possession potential consumers. This idea was adopted by Steuben and would prove to be the foundation of the company’s marketing strategy. Although Teague had an important impact on Steuben, he only designed for them for his initial one-year contract.

The Shape Gallery on the CSGA website is being updated with Modern Steuben pieces. You can now search on designers like Teague and find many of his designs!