(above) Four of five Janeway doorknobs were found in Marilyn Monroe’s estate. These four were sold at auction by Christie’s in 2001. Monroe came to own them, somehow, by taking over the Sutton Place penthouse of the Swope family which had commissioned 26 doorknobs from Janeway in the early 1950s.

Janeway fabricated her popular doorknob sets using slip molding. Decorations ranged from her humorous repertory (baggy hungover eye, smiling sun, handshake-welcome, spider in spiderweb, Eve with apple) to custom designs, usually with the person’s name in cursive, swooping birds, all encircled by leafy branches in heart-shape.

The doorknob depicted below,  made for Herbert Bayard Swope, Jr. (1915-2008), TV and film director and producer , was sold at auction in 2005 , as part of the estate of Marilyn Monroe.  The high hammer price, $1,140 inspired a sermon entitled “You Are a Doorknob.”

https://lifetoday.org/connect/words-of-life/you-are-doorknob/

(above) Janeway.Oversized Janeway doorknob, diam. 3-1/2 inches. datable 1947- early 1950s. (ex-collection Marilyn Monroe, current location unknown)

see also: Victoria Jenssen, “Carol Janeway’s ‘Fanciful’ Doorknobs,” in O Pioneers! Women Ceramic Artists, 1925-1960.  ed. Ezra Shales (Alfred, NY:Alfred Ceramic Art Museum). 2015. pp.39-41.