A silver plated three-piece cocktail shaker. This stunning looking piece of archetypal Art Deco design is more than just a cocktail shaker. It is an iconic piece of design, and stands alone as a piece of art. The cocktail shaker has a one pint capacity, with a large removable cap which serves as a double jigger, and features a removable strainer inside in order to strain the cocktail upon serving. The cocktail shaker was designed by a New Zealand born architect and designer who worked across many disciplines as a ceramics, glass and metalware designer during his long and successful career.  He is considered one of the most influential designers of the Art Deco style. Born in Auckland,his family emigrated to England when he was 14. After the First World War he attended the Architectural School of Architecture (1919) and was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) on completion of his studies in 1921. In this same year he started work in the offices of Maxwell Ayrton. In 1928 he held his own illustrations show at Le Levre Gallery in London, but this was not to prove his passion. The economic crash of 1929 forced him to seek other employment. His visits to exhibitions such as the 1925 Paris Exposition, and exhibition of Swedish Industrial Art in London (1931) inspired Murray to seek out opportunities to design homewares, and as the depression of the early 1930s further reduced the demand for architecture he became a full-time product designer. Murray first approached Arthur Marriott Powell about the possibility of working with Whitefriars Glass, in London. Though his ideas proved unsuitable for their style of glass, he worked as a freelance designer at Stevens & Williams of Brierley Hill in the West Midlands in 1932. The trial pieces were shown in London that year and the 'Keith Murray range' was produced. Between 1932 and 1939 he produced over 1200 designs though many were only issued in quantities of six or twelve. In 1932 he also began working 2–3 months a year for Wedgwood. Josiah Wedgwood invited him to visit the Wedgwood Factory. He was then employed to produce designs for dinner and teaware. It is here that Murray’s famous ribbing designs began to form. His first range was entitled ‘Annular’. It was then in 1934 the Royal Silversmiths Mappin and Webb approached him and asked if he could produce bowls and vases in silver working to the same designs as his Wedgwood pieces. Murray’s designs were celebrated by modernist critics of the day and his design work appeared in exhibitions from the outset. In 1933 there was an ‘Exhibition of new Wedgwood shapes designed by Keith Murray’ at John Lewis in Oxford Street, his work appeared in the exhibition ‘British industrial art in relation to the home’ at Dorland Hall, and he was awarded a Gold medal at the 5th Triennale Milan in this same year. As well as Britain Can Make It (1946), his work featured in the exhibition of British Art in Industry (1935), the Paris Exposition (1937) and Design at Work (1948). In 1936 he was appointed one of the first ten Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) and when he became Master of the RDI Faculty (1945 to 1947) he acted as an assessor for the dinner or tea service section of the W.R.N.S. design and art competition (1945) and a competition for a design for a drinking fountain (1946), both managed by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA). He acted as a jury member, with James Hogan RDI and Wells Coates RDI, for the RSA’s Industrial Art Bursary competition for pressed glass, and like Duncan Grant RDI, he designed flower vases for the first RDI reception held in 1950 that Princess Elizabeth (HM The Queen) attended as President of the RSA. Murray returned to his architectural career setting up a practice with Charles White in 1936. Their first major commission, appropriately, was the design of the new Wedgwood factory at Barlaston, Stoke on Trent and in 1939 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. After the Second World War he devoted himself to his architectural practice until his retirement in 1967. Their work included Hong Kong Air Terminal, the BEA Base at London Airport and numerous other industrial and office buildings. In 1951 he redesigned Wedgwood’s London showrooms with two other RDIs, R.Y. Goodden and R. D. Russell. It is also worth noting that he served with distinction with the Royal Air Force and Royal Flying Corps during the First World War earning the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre Belge, and from 1939 to 1941 he again served with the RAF. This cocktail shaker is marked Mappin & Webb, London and Sheffield along with date letter "A", product reference number and the capacity of the shaker. The condition of the piece is excellent throughout, and can be used for making cocktails.  Made in England, circa  1936.