Historical Background

Portrait of the Family of Queen Victoria

Franz Xaver Winterhalter (German, 1805-1873)

1846

Oil on canvas

Royal Trust Collection, London, England

The years from 1830 to 1914 are described as "Victorian" after the reign of Queen Victoria, who ruled England from 1837 until her death in 1901. The styles, fashions, and tastes associated with the Victorian era emerged shortly before Queen Victoria’s accession and continued beyond her death to about the beginning of World War I. 

Factory in nineteenth-century England.

Queen Victoria’s reign witnessed great economic, political, and social changes. The Industrial Revolution, which brought about factory production and the use of steam-powered machinery, dominated the culture and economy of both Europe and America during the nineteenth century. Large factories equipped with steam-powered machines appeared in every major Western nation. The mechanization of various industries and mass production greatly reduced the cost of household furnishings, making them available to a broader segment of the population.

During Victoria’s reign, the middle class emerged as a powerful force in society, acquiring immense wealth and exerting a strong influence on government. This new class provided a sizable and eager market for the flood of manufactured goods that appeared as a result of mechanization.

Electric streetcars on Fourth Avenue, looking south

from 13th Street, New York City, 1906.  Byron

Company, New York, N.Y.  Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY.

Victorian America experienced similar economic, technological, and cultural developments. Cities in the North became major industrial centers with large-scale factories manufacturing the goods and products that were eagerly consumed by a rapidly growing population. Improvements in transportation such as the opening of canals and the creation of railroads enabled these products to be shipped to distant parts of the country. Technology advanced at a rapid pace and new inventions appeared regularly, including various types of steam-powered machinery, the telegraph, the telephone, electric streetcars, the steam locomotive, the steam boat, electric lighting, and the combustion engine. The Civil War, which brought about an end to slavery, resulted in the industrialization of the South.

"The Crystal Palace from the Northeast" from Dickinson's

Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851, 1854.

Americans continued to rely on English and French fashions during the nineteenth century.  The newest styles from Europe were disseminated in the United States through publications such as architecture and furniture pattern books, trade periodicals, fashion magazines, and home decorating guides.  Another showcase for the latest design developments was the international exhibition, or world’s fair, the first of which was the Great Exhibition held in London in 1851. The importation of French and English furniture, porcelain, silver, and decorative objects also facilitated the transmission of European styles to the United States.

A multitude of styles influenced the design of household furnishings during the Victorian years, giving rise to a description of furniture and other decorative arts of the period as "eclectic." Many of these styles were simultaneously fashionable, providing the homeowner with a variety of options from which to choose.

View of a New York parlor, 1854. Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-
Room Companion, Boston, Saturday, November 11, 1854.

The nineteenth-century interest in history gave rise to a revival of styles from the past.  Designers and craftsmen borrowed forms and decorative motifs associated with various historical periods, from ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian through Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque to Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI. Historically based "revival styles," including Grecian, Gothic, Elizabethan, Rococo, Renaissance, Neo-Grec, and Louis XVI, were particularly popular during the early and mid-Victorian years. Each revival loosely imitated a past style and tended to represent a creative re-interpretation of historical forms and ornament. Motifs from two or more revival styles were frequently combined in a single object. Until the final decades of the nineteenth century, attempts were rarely made to accurately reproduce furniture or other decorative arts objects from previous eras.

"Drawing-room in Modern Gothic."  A. Kimbel and J. Cabus,
New York City, New York.  Harriet Prescott Spofford,
Art Decoration Applied to Furniture (New York, 1878).

During the mid-nineteenth century in England, a reaction against the excesses of revivalism emerged among a small group of architects and designers who rebelled against elaborate decoration, claiming it tended to obscure the structure of furniture and other decorative arts objects.  In an attempt to reform design, they established a set of precepts that included an honest use of materials, a frank expression of structure, and a restrained application of ornament. The design reform movement advocated a variety of approaches and produced a number of stylistic alternatives. The architect Charles Lock Eastlake promoted the use of medieval forms and construction techniques. The Aesthetic Movement, which began in England in the 1860s as a small group of artists and writers who championed the philosophy of "art for art’s sake," attempted to bring about reform by introducing artistic principles to the design of furniture and other domestic furnishings. The movement drew inspiration primarily from Japanese art and design. These and other attempts at design reform culminated in the emergence of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which brought about a return to hand craftsmanship and a revival of the medieval guild system.

At the turn of the twentieth century, a number of progressive architects and designers in France reacted against the dependence on historical styles and advocated creating a universal design vocabulary that would release design from the shackles of the past. These designers turned toward nature for inspiration and adopted sinuous lines, asymmetrical forms, and decoration of stylized flowers, leaves, and vines or abstract whiplash curves. The new style that emerged was labeled "Art Nouveau," which translates into "New Art."

All these styles and design movements crossed the Atlantic to the United States, where they were eagerly adopted by architects, designers, craftsmen, and artisans who, while following the fashions from abroad, created uniquely American interpretations.

Furniture

Étagère
Attributed to Bembé & Kimbel (active 1854-1861)
c.1855
New York City, New York
Rosewood; marble, mirror glass
Photograph©Witherell's Auction House, Sacramento, CA

During the Victorian years, the market for furniture greatly expanded as a larger segment of the population experienced an increase in income and consequently could afford to purchase suites of manufactured furniture. The wealthy patronized high-end cabinetmaking firms that produced unique, well-crafted, stylish furniture made from expensive woods and other materials. The middle-class market was served by large furniture manufacturing companies that made furniture in less expensive woods and with simpler decoration in the same styles found at the level of high-end cabinetmaking. A new type of business, the furniture retailer, emerged in response to the increased demand for furniture and sold to its customers wares purchased on the wholesale market from various furniture manufacturers.

Due to the diversification of the market for household goods, American furniture of the nineteenth century was produced at three distinct levels. These included high-end furniture made by prominent cabinetmaking firms that continued to rely on traditional handcrafting techniques; middle-grade furniture that was well-made and nicely detailed, but not of the same quality as pieces produced by the leading cabinetmaking establishments; and low-grade furniture churned out in large quantities and typically of poor construction.

Table
Berkey & Gay Furniture Company (active 1861-1929)
c.1870
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Walnut; marble
Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI

As the nineteenth century progressed, machinery played an increasing role in the manufacture of furniture.  Traditional cabinetmaking techniques continued to be practiced at the level of high-end furniture production while the use of steam-powered woodworking machinery became more prevalent in the realm of middle- and low-grade furniture. Depending on the level of furniture manufacture, machinery either dominated production or simply supplemented hand work. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, use of power machinery on at least a limited basis was common among the high-end furniture establishments.

The period from 1830 to 1914 was characterized by a variety of furniture styles that reflected the ever-changing tastes and design philosophies of the Victorian era. As new styles gradually reached the height of fashion, older styles slowly declined and faded away. Frequently, a number of styles overlapped each other, giving rise to the eclecticism that typified Victorian design. A single piece of furniture may incorporate elements of two or more styles that were currently popular.

The styles of American furniture and other decorative arts between 1830 and 1914 are typically divided into four periods: Early Victorian (1830-1850); Mid-Victorian (1850-1870); Late Victorian (1870-1890); and Turn of the Twentieth Century (1890-1914).

Early Victorian Furniture Styles

Grecian or Late Classical Style, 1830-1850

Daybed

Attributed to Duncan Phyfe & Sons (1837-1840)

1837

New York City, New York

Mahogany; ash, pine

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Characterized by bold scrolling shapes, plain rounded moldings, and broad curved surfaces veneered with richly figured mahogany or walnut. The tops of center and card tables rest on large baluster-shaped pedestals while pier tables stand on scrolled supports. Chairs feature curved saber-like legs and backs with shaped crest rails over vase- or baluster-form splats. Occasionally, chairs adopted a deep concave back described as a "gondola" back. Sofas and daybeds are distinguished by scrolled arms and rest on feet composed of scrolls. Cornices with a pronounced concave profile surmount secretaries, bookcases, and wardrobes. Case pieces such as chests of drawers, dressing bureaus, and desks are frequently fitted with one or more drawers with convex or ogee-molded fronts. Furniture in this style is typically devoid of carving or applied embellishment, the decorative quality arising from the surface pattern created by the rich figure of the veneers.

Card Table
Joseph Meeks & Sons (active 1829-1835)
1829-1835
New York City, New York
Mahogany; ash, pine, poplar
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Pier Table
Joseph Meeks & Sons (active 1829-1835)
1829-1835
New York City, New York
Mahogany; pine, ash; marble, mirror glass
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 

Sewing Table
Joseph Meeks & Sons (active 1829-1835)
c.1829
New York City, New York
Mahogany; pine, poplar
New York State Museum, Albany, NY

Pair of Side Chairs
c.1840-1850
United States
Mahogany
Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Springfield, IL  

Center Table
Attributed to John & Joseph W. Meeks (active 1836-1859)

c.1849

New York City, New York

Mahogany; pine; marble
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Recreation of a Greek Revival parlor in a New York City townhouse, 1835. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

Gothic Revival Style, 1840-1860 

Armchair

John & Joseph W. Meeks  (active 1836-1859)

c.1850

New York City, New York

Mahogany

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Gothic Revival furniture tends to be architectural in character, highly decorative, and typically devoid of any reference to actual medieval furniture. Forms and ornament derive from the architecture of Gothic churches, consisting of pointed arches, tracery, crockets, pinnacles, cluster columns, and buttresses. Chair backs are typically tall, narrow, and in the form of a Gothic pointed arch filled with carved tracery. Pinnacles occasionally surmount the stiles, or uprights, of chair backs. Secretaries and bookcases feature glazed doors with muntins terminating in pointed arches, over which appears a frieze typically decorated with carved tracery motifs such as quatrefoils and trefoils. The cupboard doors on wardrobes and sideboards are inset with Gothic pointed-arch panels. Tables stand on cluster-column legs or on a central pedestal with buttresses and tracery decoration. Rosewood, oak, and walnut are common woods.

Bureau
Crawford Riddell (active 1837-1849)
c.1844
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rosewood, mahogany; tulip poplar; 
marble, gilded bronze, glass
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN

Library Table

Possibly designed by Alexander Jackson Davis (American, 1803-1892)

Manufacture attributed to Burns & Trainque (active c.1842-1856)

c.1855 

New York City, New York

Oak, walnut; cherry, poplar 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Table

c.1850-1860

Probably New York City, New York

Walnut; marble

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Slipper Chair

c.1840-1860

New York City, New York or Boston, Massachusetts

Mahogany; chestnut; needlework upholstery

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Secretary

John & Joseph W. Meeks (active 1836-1859) 

c.1836-1850

New York City, New York

Rosewood; satinwood, poplar, pine, walnut

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Gothic Revival library in the Morse-Libby residence, Portland, Maine, built 1858-1860.
Photograph©Victoria Mansion, Portland, Maine.

Elizabethan Revival Style, 1840-1860

Slipper Chair

John Jelliff & Company (active 1843-1890) 

1857-1858

Newark, New Jersey

Walnut
Newark Museum, Newark, NJ

Allied to the Gothic Revival style and named after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Chairs feature tall, narrow backs such as those found in Gothic Revival furniture, but crests are arched and elaborately carved. The stiles and legs of chairs are turned in several different profiles, including spiral, spool, and baluster. Although mostly found in chairs, the style occasionally manifested itself in cabinets and other case pieces, which are ornamented with the same types of turnings as well as cartouches, jewelwork (imitating faceted gemstones), and strapwork (imitating flat, scrolling straps of leather), all of which derive from Elizabethan architecture of the sixteenth century. Rosewood and walnut are typical of furniture in this style.

Hall Chair

Julius S. Dessoir (active 1842-1866)

c.1860

New York City, New York

Mahogany, walnut

New York State Museum, Albany, NY

Armchair
Attributed to Elisha Galusha (active 1828-1870)
c.1850-1860
Troy, New York
Rosewood; walnut, ash
Munson,Utica, NY

Étagère Cabinet

Alexander Roux (active 1836-1880)

1848-1850

New York City, New York

Rosewood; mirror glass

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Games Table

John & Joseph W. Meeks (active 1836-1859)

c.1845-1850

New York City, New York

Rosewood, satinwood, mahogany; poplar, walnut

Munson, Utica, NY

Mid-Victorian Furniture Styles

Rococo Revival Style, 1845-1865

Side Chair

Attributed to Bembé & Kimbel (active 1854-1861)

c.1855

New York City, New York

Rosewood

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Based on the mid-eighteenth-century French Rococo style popular during the reign of Louis XV. Outlines are curved, forms are rounded, and the ornament derives from nature, including shells, flowers, leaves, and fruits. Sprays of roses or clusters of grapes are typical decorative motifs. Ornament is typically arranged within a framework of C-shaped and S-shaped scrolls. Chair backs are rounded—of either cartouche or balloon shape—and typically the crest rails are carved with leaves and flowers. Sofa backs are composed of three oval upholstered panels or the crest rail is of serpentine outline. In the most expensive examples of chairs and sofas, the crests of the backs are pierced through, leaving openings between the carved motifs. Chairs, sofas, and tables stand on S-shaped cabriole legs, the knees of which are frequently carved with floral decoration. The cabriole legs terminate in either scroll or club feet. Center tables have shaped tops frequently called "turtle tops" because of their similarity to the outline of the shell and feet of a turtle. Carved decoration of scrolls, cartouches, flowers, and leaves is found on case pieces such as wardrobes and sideboards. Rosewood was the most fashionable wood for furniture in this style, but walnut was also used.

Sofa

John Henry Belter (active 1844-1863)

1850-1860

New York City, New York

Rosewood

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Armchair
Attributed to George Henkels (active 1843-1877)

c.1850

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Walnut

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

    

Étagère

Alexander Roux (active 1836-1880)

c.1855

New York City, New York

Rosewood; chestnut, poplar, bird's-eye maple

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Overmantel Mirror

c.1850-1860

United States

Gilding, gesso, wood

Collection of the United States Senate, Washington, D.C

Center Table

Gottlieb Vollmer (active 1842-1891)

1860-1864
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Rosewood; marble

Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, Wilmington, DE 

Rococo Revival parlor from the Colonel Robert J. Milligan residence, Saratoga Springs, New York, built 1854-1856. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.

Renaissance Revival Style, 1855-1875

Sideboard

Iganatius Lutz (active 1850-1879)

1850-1860
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Oak; yellow poplar; marble

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

A revival of the Renaissance style of the sixteenth century. Decoration consists of classical architectural elements such as pediments, pilasters, columns, and cornices in addition to other motifs deriving from the Renaissance including cartouches, pendants, medallions, and busts. Chair backs are usually rectilinear and the crests are carved with cartouches. Sofa backs continue to be divided into three sections, but these are now geometric in shape. Seat furniture stands on trumpet-shaped legs and the frames are cut with narrow groove-like lines called "incising." Sometimes the incised decoration is gilded. On chairs and tables, the incised decoration is frequently combined with raised panels. Center tables and side tables stand on trumpet-shaped legs or on shaped supports that surround a central pedestal in the form of a classical urn or baluster. Table tops are composed of a juxtaposition of curved and straight lines while the aprons are decorated with incising and projecting panels. Sideboards represent the most elaborate manifestation of the style, sporting both classical architectural motifs as well as elaborately carved ornament symbolizing the harvest and the hunt, including dead game, fish, and fowl and clusters of fruits and vegetables. Walnut, oak, and rosewood are common woods. Elaborate parlor and music cabinets are embellished with marquetry of various woods, bronze or porcelain plaques, and gilt-bronze mounts. The Renaissance Revival style frequently overlaps and integrates elements of the Louis XVI Revival and Neo-Grec styles.  

Side Chair
1860-1870
Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906)
New York City, New York
Rosewood, marquetry of various woods; gilding
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, NY

Cabinet

Attributed to Daniel Pabst (active 1854-1896)

1865-1870

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Walnut; maple, poplar; glass

Photograph©Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, LA 

Center Table
Attributed to John Jelliff & Company (active 1843-1890) 

c.1870

Newark, New Jersey

Walnut; marble

Photograph©Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, LA

Cabinet
1865-1875
New York City, New York
Rosewood, walnut, tulipwood, marquetry of various woods; ebonizing, gilding, painted porcelain, gilded bronze
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Sofa
John Jelliff & Company (active 1843-1890) 

1870-1875

Newark, New Jersey
Walnut; pine, ash; brass

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Renaissance Revival dining room in the Morse-Libby residence, Portland, Maine, built 1858-1860.
Photograph©Victoria Mansion, Portland, Maine.

Néo-Grec Style, 1865-1880

Cabinet

c.1870

New York City, New York

Rosewood; ebonizing, gilding

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

This style derives from the vocabulary of Greco-Roman ornament while occasionally borrowing from other ancient sources including Babylonian and Assyrian. Greek motifs such as anthemia (honeysuckle flowers), palmettes, meander patterns, urns, amphora, and griffins are typically stylized and combined with architectural details including pediments, pilasters, and acroteria. The style emphasized novelty, invention, and creative juxtapositions of classical ornament. An interest in polychromy is expressed through painted decoration or combinations of various woods and other materials. When introduced from Europe in the 1860s, the Néo-Grec influenced the development of Renaissance Revival furniture, which began to incorporate stylized Greek motifs and other inventive ornaments.

Armchair
Kilian Brothers (active 1856-c.1920)

c.1870

New York City, New York

Walnut; ebonizing, gilding; original and modern upholstery

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Side Chair
Attributed to Allen & Brother (active 1847-1902)
c.1865-1875
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Walnut; ebonizing

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Bench

Alexander Roux (active 1836-1880)

c.1865

New York City, New York

Beech; paint, gilding

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Center Table

Allen & Brother (active 1847-1902)

c.1875

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cherry; gilding, paint, marble

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Console Table

Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906)

1869-1871

New York City, New York

Maple, rosewood, marquetry of various woods; chestnut, cherry, oak; mirror glass, gilding

Collection of Max and Judy Fooote, Mandeville, LA

Louis XVI Revival Style, 1855-1875

Pedestal

Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company (active 1859-1919)

c.1865-1870

New York City, New York

Rosewood, walnut; gilding, gilded metal, bronze

Saint Louis Museum of Art, Saint Louis, MO

A revival of the late eighteenth-century French Neoclassical style that flourished during the reign of Louis XVI. Decoration typically consists of classical moldings, laurel wreaths, lyres, rosettes, and acanthus leaves. Chair and sofa frames are frequently ebonized and mounted with gilded bronze. Forms are rectilinear, with chair and sofa backs taking on square or rectangular shapes. Chair legs are commonly round, tapered, and fluted while table legs occasionally take on the form of classical columns. Case pieces such as cabinets are frequently embellished with marquetry (a pictorial veneer of variously colored woods) depicting a still life of flowers or a trophy of musical instruments. The style was often combined with the Renaissance Revival and Néo-Grec styles.

Library Table

Leon Marcotte & Company (active 1860-1918)

1860-1870

New York City, New York

Ebonized cherry, amboyna; pine, maple, poplar, ash, hornbeam; gilded bronze, ivory

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Armchair
Leon Marcotte & Company (active 1860-1918)

c.1860
New York City, New York
Ebonized maple; gilded bronze

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Cabinet

Alexander Roux (active 1836-1880)

c.1865-1870

New York City, New York

Rosewood, tulipwood, marquetry of various woods; cherry,
yellow poplar, pine, maple, walnut; gilding, painted porcelain,
gilded bronze

Munson, Utica, New York

Card Table

Alexander Roux (active 1836-1880)

1867-1877

New York City, New York

Ebonized cherry, marquetry of various woods; gilded bronze

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Sofa
A. & H. Lejambre (active 1865-1907)
c.1870
Rosewood
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Recreation of a Louis XVI Revival parlor from the exhibition 19th-Century America, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1970.

Egyptian Revival Style, 1865-1880

Center Table

Attributed to Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company (active 1859-1919)

1870-1875

New York City, New York

Rosewood, walnut; marble, gilding, ebonizing, gilded bronze

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Inspired by archeological excavations conducted in Egypt during the 1850s and by an exhibition in New York City of the first major collection of Egyptian artifacts to come to the United States. The style is characterized by the use of ancient Egyptian decorative motifs such as sphinxes, lotus flowers, papyrus flowers, Egyptian heads, winged orbs, chevron patterns, and tablet-shaped cartouches as well as forms derived from Egyptian architecture, including pylons, coved cornices, and heavy torus moldings. These motifs are grafted onto furniture that is Renaissance Revival in form. Rosewood occurs frequently in furniture in this style. Incised and gilded decoration is common.

Armchair and Side Chair

Attributed to Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company (active 1859-1919)

c.1870-1875

New York City, New York

Rosewood, prickly juniper; gilding, ebonizing, gilded bronze

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Pedestal

c.1875
Probably New York City, New York

Ebonized cherry; gilding

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Armchair

Attributed to Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company (active 1859-1919)

c.1870
New York City, New York

Rosewood, walnut; gilt and patinated metal mounts; original upholstery

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Center Table Attributed to Allen & Brother (active 1847-1902) c.1865-1875 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Walnut, walnut veneer; ebonizing, gilding; marble, brass Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Cottage Style, 1840-1870

Bureau
c.1850
Probably New England
Pine, poplar; paint
Private collection

In the mid-nineteenth century, the preeminent American tastemaker Andrew Jackson Downing recommended the use of inexpensive painted furniture in the cottages of working-class families.  The low cost and unpretentious quality of “cottage” furniture made it appropriate to the modest interiors of working men’s homes. Affluent middle-class families immediately recognized the charming appeal of painted furniture and adopted it for use in secondary rooms such as bedchambers.

Cottage furniture is of simple construction, made of inexpensive woods, and embellished with painted decoration to conceal the modest materials. Surfaces are frequently grained in imitation of expensive woods and painted with floral decoration. More expensive examples of cottage furniture were given a black finish that served as the background for elaborate painted decoration of sprays of flowers, still life compositions, and landscapes and for gilt ornament of scrolling leaves.

Cottage furniture frequently reflected the influence of one of the currently popular revival styles in applied turnings and machine-carved ornament, in motifs incorporated into the painted decoration, and in the outlines of components such as aprons, legs, and mirror frames.

Lady's Writing Desk
Retailed by Charles A. Baudouine (active 1829-1854)
c.1849-1854
New York City, New York
Poplar; paint, gilding; velvet
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Bureau
Probably New England
c.1860-1870
Wood, paint
Photograph©Robert Bishop

Work Table
c.1855
Attributed to Hart, Ware & Company (active 1852-1859)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania or Baltimore, Maryland
Wood, paint, gilding
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Bedstead

Heywood Brothers & Company (active 1826-1897)          

c.1855

Gardner, Massachusetts

Pine; paint, gilding

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Innovative Furniture

The Industrial Revolution brought about numerous technological innovations and scientific advances during the nineteenth century. New manufacturing processes emerged as a result of the growing influence of the machine while inventive uses of traditional materials were encouraged by rapidly developing industries. Developments in machine production and industrial applications of materials impacted on the design and manufacture of furniture.

Hall Stand

1850-1860

England or United States

Cast-iron

Photograph©Dargate Auction Galleries, Pittsburgh, PA

Cast iron had been used in the eighteenth century for the production of cooking utensils, the manufacture of steam engines, and the construction of bridges. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the material was widely employed in the structures and facades of buildings. It was also extensively used in the manufacture of garden furniture and ornaments and indoor furnishings including hall stands, dressing mirrors, umbrella stands, and various types of seating.  The components of cast-iron furniture were cast in sand molds. In the process of casting, the parts were simultaneously shaped and ornamented with decorative motifs in relief. The decoration derived from one or more of the currently popular revival styles.

Side Chair

Henry I. Seymour Chair Manufactory (active 1851-1885)

c.1875

Troy, New York

Bentwood; hickory, ash; cane

New York State Museum, Albany, NY

A number of chair manufacturers in the United States adopted the technique of steam heating and bending rods of wood to produce the components of chairs. A single bent rod could be used to form the chair back and rear legs, the arms and arm supports, or the frame of the seat. The process of manufacturing bentwood furniture had been innovated in Vienna, Austria, by Michael Thonet in the middle of the nineteenth century.

Child's Rocking Chair

Attributed to Tyler Desk Company

c.1885

St. Louis, Missouri

Ebonized bentwood, original upholstery

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

The New York City furniture maker John Henry Belter obtained four patents between 1847 and 1860 for steam heating and curving in metal molds layers of rosewood glued together. The laminated rosewood was to form the backs of chairs, the aprons of tables, the headboards and footboards of beds, and the fronts of drawers in bureaus.
  

Armchair
George Jacob Hunzinger (American, born Germany, 1835-1898)

c.1876

New York City, New York

Walnut; steel mesh, fabric

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

The rapid pace of technological development and industrial progress spurred a great interest in novelty and invention. In response to the demand for the new and unusual, furniture manufacturers such as Brooklyn cabinetmaker George Hunzinger produced unique, sometimes eccentric designs that appear to celebrate machinery through the incorporation of components resembling cogs, pipes, and pistons.

Side Chair
Attributed to John Henry Belter (active 1844-1863)
c.1855
New York City, New York
Rosewood
Photograph©M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans, LA

Back of side chair Photograph©M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans, LA

Centripetal Spring Chair

Designed by Thomas E. Warren (American, 1808-?)

American Chair Company (active 1829-1858)

c.1849-1858

Troy, New York

Cast-iron, wood, modern upholstery, original fringe

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Late Victorian Furniture Styles

Modern Gothic or Eastlake Style, 1870-1890

Cabinet

Attributed to Daniel Pabst (active 1854-1896)

c.1877-1880

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Walnut, maple; pine; glass

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 

Inspired by the designs of English architects such as Charles Lock Eastlake, after whom the style was named in the United States in the late nineteenth century. This style reflects the tenets of the English design reform movement, which advocated a restrained use of ornament, truth to materials, and a clear expression of structure. Eastlake’s book Hints on Household Taste (1868) espoused the philosophy of design reform and helped to popularize the style in America. Furniture in this style tends to be very rectilinear and severe, with emphasis on structure. Case pieces are frequently of panel-and-frame construction, with panels composed of vertical or diagonal boards placed inside horizontal rails and vertical stiles. Corners are usually "chamfered," or cut at an angle. Posts and legs are typically turned. A popular cresting device for desks, bookcases, and sideboards is a row of turned spindles. Carved decoration is typically in low relief, consisting of conventionalized or "geometricized" natural forms such as flowers and leaves. Simplified Gothic motifs are periodically employed, as the basis of the style was medieval furniture. Occasionally, the ornament is reduced to simple incised lines to emphasize flat surfaces. The backs of chairs are usually rectangular and the frames are incised with either geometric or conventionalized floral motifs. This style favored woods such as oak and walnut.

Side Chair

Kimbel & Cabus (active 1863-1882)

c.1880

New York City, New York

Ash; gilding

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Sideboard

Daniel Pabst (active 1854-1896)

c.1870-1880

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Walnut, elm

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Easel
c.1875-1885
United States
Walnut; ebonizing, gilding
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Desk Kimbel & Cabus (active 1863-1882) c.1876 New York City, New York Walnut; nickel-plated brass, iron Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Armchair

Probably designed by Henry Hobson Richardson (American, 1838-1886)

c.1878

Oak; leather

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Modern Gothic parlor in Glenview, Yonkers, New York, built 1876-1877. Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY.

Anglo-Japanese Style, 1870-1890

Side Chair

Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906)

1877-1879

New York City, New York

Ebonized cherry, marquetry of various woods

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

This style evolved in England as part of the Aesthetic Movement and derived inspiration from Japanese art and design. Interest in the arts of Japan was stimulated by events such as the opening of Japan to trade with the West in 1854 and Japanese displays at international exhibitions. The style overlaps Eastlake furniture in the use of rectilinear forms, low-relief carved ornament, incised lines, and conventionalized floral motifs; however, the decoration is Japanese in origin and consists of prunus blossoms, chrysanthemums, bamboo shoots and leaves, cranes and other exotic birds, and motifs associated with the Aesthetic Movement such as the lily and the sunflower. Furniture in this style is often made of ebonized wood, although rosewood and mahogany also occur.  The broad surfaces of case pieces such as wardrobes and cabinets are frequently veneered with marquetry of Japanesque prunus blossoms, chrysanthemums, or flowering urns. Some Anglo-Japanese furniture, typically made of maple, imitates bamboo in the turnings of the legs, stretchers, and applied moldings.

Cabinet Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906) c.1872 New York City, New York Ebonized cherry, mahogany, butternut, satinwood, marquetry of various woods; pine, butternut, cherry, ash, poplar; brass, glass, mirror glass, gilding, paint Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Reception Chair

Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906)

c.1878

New York City, New York

Gilded maple, marquetry of various woods; ash; paint

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Occasional Table

Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906)

c.1878

New York City, New York

Gilded maple, marquetry of various woods; ash; paint

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Dressing Table

R. J. Horner & Company (active 1886-c.1915)

c.1890-1910

New York City, New York

Maple, birch; mirror glass

Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX

Wardrobe

Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906)

1880-1885

New York City, New York

Ebonized cherry, marquetry of various woods

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Aesthetic Movement bedroom from the Worsham-Rockefeller residence, New York City, New York, built c.1864–1865, remodeled c.1881. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA.

Moorish Style, 1870-1890

Tall-Case Clock

Retailed by Tiffany & Company (active 1837-present)

c.1882-1885

New York City, New York

Mahogany; brass, metal

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

The late nineteenth-century interest in exotic decoration embraced the arts of the Near and Far East, from Turkey and Persia to China and Japan. Similar to the Anglo-Japanese style in terms of its exoticism but deriving from a different part of the Eastern world, the Moorish style borrowed Islamic ornament and even architectural details from mosques to decorate distinctly Western furniture forms.  Typical motifs are dense patterns of scrolling leaves and designs of geometric stars, both deriving from Islamic tilework, as well as onion domes, minarets, horseshoe arches, and screens of turned spindles adapted from mosque architecture.  Seating furniture in this style is usually overstuffed, luxuriously upholstered with a combination of fabrics, and trimmed with netted tassel fringe.  The upholstery, which tends to completely envelope the frame, may be further embellished with embroidered designs. Suggestive of the draped and cushioned divans in Ottoman interiors, these exotic seating forms were described as "Turkish" in the late Victorian years.

Cabinet

Herter Brothers (active 1864-1906) 

c.1880

New York City, New York

Rosewood, maple, marquetry of various

woods; poplar; glass, mother-of-pearl

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 

Side Chair
c.1880-1890
Northeastern United States
Walnut; silk and velvet upholstery

High Museum, Atlanta, GA

Armchair
c.1880
New York City, New York
Ebonized wood; velvet, needlework
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY  

Writing Table

Designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany (American, 1848-1933)

c.1885

New York City, New York

Satinwood; brass, pewter, leather

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 

Moorish smoking room from the Worsham-Rockefeller residence, New York City, New York, built c.1864–1865, remodeled c.1881. Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY.

Turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century Furniture Styles

Colonial Revival Style, 1890-1914

Desk

R. J. Horner & Company (active 1886-c.1915)

1890-1895

New York City, New York

Mahogany; mother-of-pearl, brass

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

The Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition of 1876 fostered a renewed interest in the Colonial period that first manifested itself earlier in the century when a select few began collecting American antiques from a "bygone era." Victorians celebrated what they regarded as the most important design attributes of Colonial furniture and other objects, including simplicity, restrained elegance, and hand craftsmanship.  In the late nineteenth century, the term "Colonial" denoted anything pre-industrial or made prior to 1830.

By the 1880s, furniture manufacturers were freely adapting the styles of the eighteenth century, including William & Mary, Queen Anne, and Chippendale, as well as early nineteenth-century styles such as Hepplewhite, Sheraton, and Empire. Occasionally, Colonial prototypes were accurately copied, but prior to the 1920s, most Colonial Revival furniture loosely imitated eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century models. Some manufacturers eclectically combined in a single piece elements from both Colonial and Federal furniture; still others merged Colonial styles with distinctly Victorian forms.

Armchair

Designed by Francis H. Bacon (American, 1856–1940)

A. H. Davenport Company (active 1880–1908)

1886–1888

Boston, Massachusetts

Mahogany; leather

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 

Side Chair

Samuel Karpen & Brothers (active 1880-1952)

1909

Chicago, Illinois

Mahogany

Collection of the United States Senate, Washington, D.C.

Dressing Table
c.1900
Probably Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mahogany
Photograph©Flomaton Antique Auction, Flomaton, AL

Corner Cupboard
Sypher & Company (active 1866-c.1906)
1875-1890
New York City, New York
Mahogany

New-York Historical Society,

New York, NY

Sofa Ernest F. Hagen (active 1877-1927) c.1898 New York City, New York Mahogany; cane The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Academic Revival Styles, 1890-1914

Armchair
A. H. Davenport Company (active 1880-1908)
1902
Boston, Massachusetts
Oak; cane
Collection of the White House, Washington, D.C.

The revival styles of the 1830s through the 1870s loosely interpreted the past and creatively adapted historical prototypes. The mid-1880s witnessed the emergence of a new approach to past styles, with emphasis placed on historical accuracy and a greater fidelity to period models. American furniture manufacturers continued to borrow from the Renaissance, Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI periods, but expanded their scope to include other European styles such as William and Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, Adam, and Empire. While the academic approach to period design was widely adopted by the furniture trade at the turn of the twentieth century, the degree of historical accuracy often varied according to the level of manufacture. 

Bureau

R. J. Horner & Company (active 1886-c.1915)

c.1900-1910

New York City, New York

Mahogany

Photograph©New Orleans Auction Gallery, New Orleans, LA

               

Curio Cabinet

Attributed to R. J. Horner & Company (active 1886-c.1915)

Mounts by Pierre E. Guerin (active 1857-present)

c.1895-1905

New York City, New York

Giltwood; paint; gilded mounts

Photograph©Dallas Auction Gallery, Dallas, TX

Table
Probably New York City, New York
c.1890
Oak; aspen; gilding

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Armchair
Leon Marcotte & Company (active 1860-1918)
1902
New York City, New York
Beech; paint, gilding
Collection of the White House, Washington, D.C.

Armchair

Matthews Brothers (active 1857-1937)

1890-1892

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Birch; cane

Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion, Milwaukee, WI

Drawing room of the Christian Heurich residence, Washington, D.C., built 1892-1894. Photograph©Joelle Herman Photography.

Arts and Crafts Style, 1900-1914

Linen Press

Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony (active 1902-1915)

c.1904

Woodstock, New York

Oak; tulip poplar; brass

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Based on the English movement led by William Morris, who advocated hand craftsmanship, an honest use of materials, simplicity of form, and a return to the medieval guild system in the fashioning of decorative arts objects. American interpretations of the style tend to be more severe than their English counterparts, reflecting an almost Puritan design ethic. Forms are solidly rectilinear and frequently devoid of ornament with emphasis placed on materials. Oak is common, although mahogany is found in more expensive furniture. Decoration, when it appears, is kept to a minimum and consists of stylized leaves and flowers. These motifs are usually inlaid in order to maintain flat surfaces, concentrating attention on structure. The construction of a piece is frequently expressed through the use of through tenons, which emphasize the mortise-and-tenon joints. Case pieces are frequently composed of plain boards, sometimes relieved by unframed panels. Chairs are made of squared horizontal and vertical elements and frequently upholstered in leather.

Cellarette

Furniture Shop of the Roycrofters (active 1895-1938)

c.1906

East Aurora, New York

Oak; copper

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Library Table

Designed by Harvey Ellis (American, 1852-1904)

Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Workshops (active 1899-1916)

1903-1904

Eastwood and New York City, New York

Oak, lemon wood, sycamore, exotic woods; copper, pewter, brass

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA

Side Chair

Furniture Shop of the Roycrofters (active 1895-1938)

c.1906-1912

East Aurora, New York

Mahogany, oak; brass, leather

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA 

Library Table

Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Workshops (active 1899-1916) 

c.1906

Eastwood and New York City, New York

Oak; leather

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 

Desk

Stickley Brothers (active 1891-1954)

1904

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Oak, cedar, mahogany; brass, copper, pewter, leaded glass

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 

Recreation of an Arts and Crafts dining room from the exhibition Gustave Stickley and the American Arts and Crafts Movement, Dallas Museum of Art in association with the San Diego Museum of Art.

Art Nouveau Style, 1900-1914

Side Chair

Charles Rohlfs Workshop (active 1898-1928)

c.1898-1899

Buffalo, New York

Oak

Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ

Curved lines, writhing forms, and sinuous decoration of flowers, leaves, and vines characterize this style. Motifs derived from nature are either stylized or abstracted to a composition of whiplash curves. In many instances, the sinuous, curving lines that constitute the decoration suggest flowing water and create a sense of movement. Mahogany was frequently used, as it enhanced the luxurious quality of Art Nouveau furniture.

Card Table
Tobey Furniture Company (active 1875-1954)
c.1910
Chicago, Illinois
Mahogany

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Table

c.1905

Northeastern United States

Mahogany; birch, yellow poplar, beech

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA

Armchair

Samuel Karpen & Brothers (active 1880-1952)

1901-1910

Chicago, Illinois

Mahogany, maple; gilding

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA

Curio Cabinet
George C. Flint & Company (active c.1868-1920)

c.1900
New York City, New York
Mahogany
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY 

Cabinetmaking Firms and Furniture Manufacturing Companies

The leading cabinetmaking firms in America during the Victorian period were located on the East Coast in major metropolitan cities such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Many of these establishments were small- to medium-size workshops, usually employing less than a hundred craftsmen. Large furniture factories staffed by several hundred workers and relying on numerous steam-powered machines were located in the Midwest in states such as Michigan and Ohio. There were a number of cabinetmaking firms producing high-quality furniture in the South and in the Midwest, located in cities such as Baltimore, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, and Chicago.

Important cabinetmaking firms in New York City included John & Joseph W. Meeks, John Henry Belter, Alexander Roux, Pottier & Stymus, Leon Marcotte, and Herter Brothers. Most of these cabinetmakers maintained addresses on Broadway, the location of the most fashionable shopping establishments in New York City during the nineteenth century.

Broadside, Joseph Meeks & Sons, New York City,

New York, 1833. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY.

The firm of Joseph Meeks & Sons was founded by the cabinetmaker Joseph Meeks who, according to New York City directories, was making furniture in partnership with his brother by 1797. Meeks’s two sons joined him in 1829, when the firm's name changed to Joseph Meeks & Sons. After the senior Meeks retired in 1835, the firm was taken over by his sons, who worked under the name John & Joseph W. Meeks. In 1855, Joseph Meeks withdrew, but the firm continued under John Meeks and his son.  It was renamed John Meeks & Son, remaining in operation until 1868.

John Henry Belter was a German cabinetmaker who immigrated to the United States around 1840. City directories show that he had set up a workshop in New York City by 1844. The firm of John Henry Belter was at the height of its success in the 1850s when it produced elaborately carved and laminated rosewood Rococo Revival parlor suites for clients in various parts of the United States. Belter obtained four patents between 1847 and 1860 for curving sheets of laminated rosewood. His manufacturing process involved gluing together thin layers of rosewood with the grain of adjacent layers placed at right angles to strengthen the laminate. The laminated rosewood was then steam heated in a metal "caul," or mold, which created the desired curved shape. This innovative technique was used to form the backs of chairs and the headboards and footboards of beds. Belter’s brothers-in-law, who joined the firm in the late 1850s, continued the business after his death in 1863.

Alexander Roux, a French immigrant cabinetmaker, appears to have set up a workshop in New York City around 1836. His brother Frederick joined the firm in 1847, but the partnership lasted only one year. Roux continued the business and remained active in the firm until his retirement in 1881, when Alexander Roux & Company was taken over by his son. Roux achieved a reputation for manufacturing fine furniture in all the revival styles that were fashionable in the early and mid-Victorian years.

In the 1840s, the French designer Leon Marcotte joined the Paris cabinetmaking and decorating firm of his brother-in-law, Auguste-Emile Ringuet-Leprince. After cultivating an exclusive American clientele in France, Ringuet-Leprince opened in 1848 a New York branch, which was managed by Marcotte. By 1860, when Ringuet-Leprince retired, the business had achieved a reputation for producing high quality furniture influenced by eighteenth-century French styles. Marcotte continued the business under the name Leon Marcotte & Company. The firm fabricated stylish furniture and interior decoration for an affluent clientele until closing in 1918.

Factory and warerooms of Pottier & Stymus Manufacturing Company,
New York City,  New York, 1872.  The Successful Business Houses of
New York, 1872.

The firm of Pottier & Stymus was established in 1859 by Auguste Pottier, a French immigrant wood carver, and William Pierre Stymus, who was born in New York City and trained as an upholsterer.  After working briefly in Paris, Pottier settled in the United States in 1850 and found work with the New York City cabinetmaker Edward W. Hutchings. In 1851, he formed a short-lived partnership with Gustave Herter, founder of the firm that later became the famous decorating and cabinetmaking establishment of Herter Brothers.  Auguste Pottier met William P. Stymus after joining the cabinetmaking firm of Bartholomew Rochefort, where Stymus held the position of upholstery foreman. The two craftsmen formed a partnership after taking over Rochefort's business. Pottier & Stymus rose to prominence by 1870, becoming one of the leading cabinetmaking and interior decorating firms in New York City. The company remained active until 1919.

Another prominent cabinetmaking firm in New York City during the second half of the nineteenth century was Herter Brothers, founded by Gustave Herter, a German furniture craftsman who immigrated to the Unites States in 1848. Shortly after his arrival, Gustave found employment as a designer for the luxury goods firm of Tiffany and Company.  After working in partnership initially with Auguste Pottier from 1851 to 1853 and then with the cabinetmaker Erastus Bulkley, he established his own firm in 1858. Gustave Herter and Company quickly achieved a reputation for excellence, producing both furniture and decorations for affluent clients in New York City as well as in other parts of the United States. Christian Herter joined his brother’s firm about 1859. The name of the company was changed to Herter Brothers in 1864 when Christian became a partner. Christian trained as an artist in Paris and excelled in the design of furniture and decoration. When Gustave retired in 1870, Christian assumed control and spearheaded the firm into the forefront of fashionable American furniture and interior decoration. Shortly after Christian’s retirement in 1879, the firm was taken over by William Baumgarten and William Nichols, who continued the business until 1906. During its early years, the Herter firm produced high-grade furniture in revival styles including Gothic, Renaissance, Neo-Grec, and Louis XVI.  By the mid-1870s, the company specialized in luxury furniture and interior decoration inspired by English reform styles such as Modern Gothic and Anglo-Japanese.

Advertisement, R. J. Horner & Company, New York City,
New York, 1887. New York Public Library, New York, NY.  

At the end of the nineteenth century, new furniture manufacturers emerged in New York City and assumed the lead positions once held by prestigious companies such as Pottier & Stymus, Herter Brothers, and Leon Marcotte & Company. One such firm was R. J. Horner & Company, founded in 1886. The company’s factory and showrooms were located at 61-65 East 23rd Street.  By 1897, the firm had acquired an additional building that probably served as a second factory.  The showrooms were moved in 1912 to 20 West 36th Street, a highly fashionable address.  By 1915, R. J. Horner had merged with George C. Flint & Company, another prominent New York City furniture manufacturer. The partnership of Flint and Horner appears to have lasted only one year.  R. J. Horner & Company produced furniture in a number of traditional styles including Louis XV, Louis XVI, Empire, Georgian, and American Colonial, as well as in the progressive Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts styles. The firm also specialized in the manufacture of maple faux-bamboo furniture in the Anglo-Japanese taste.

The city of Philadelphia also boasted a number of high-end furniture makers, including A. & H. Lejambre, George Henkels, and Daniel Pabst. These craftsmen produced sophisticated furniture that competed with the best examples manufactured in New York City.

The firm of A. & H. Lejambre began in 1825 when the French immigrant John Peter Alphonse Lejambre opened an upholstery shop in Philadelphia. Around 1853, the company introduced the manufacture of furniture. Anna Lejambre, who had assumed control of the company after her husband’s death, entered into partnership with her cousin, Henri Lejambre, in 1865. The firm catered to well-to-do residents of the city, producing furniture in the Rococo and Renaissance Revival styles and later in English reform styles. The company remained in business until 1907.

Catalog, George J. Henkels, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, c.1855.

Winterthur Museum, Library and Garden, Winterthur, DE.

One of the most successful Philadelphia cabinetmakers was George J. Henkels. Born in Philadelphia, Henkels was working as a furniture maker in the city by 1843. About 1850, he established a large furniture manufactory and shop on Chestnut Street. He later moved to 524 Walnut Street in 1857 and then back to Chestnut in 1862, finally settling at the corner of Chestnut and 13th Streets in 1867. After Henkels retired in 1877, the firm was taken over by his son, D. George Henkels. The company produced furniture in the Gothic, Rococo, and Renaissance Revival styles.

Like New York City, Philadelphia had a large community of German immigrant cabinetmakers. One of the most prominent was Daniel Pabst. Born in Germany in 1826, Pabst trained at a technical school before immigrating to the United States and settling in Philadelphia about 1849. After working as a journeyman cabinetmaker, he set up his own shop in 1854 at 222 South Fifth Street. Shortly afterwards Pabst entered into a decade-long partnership with Francis Krauss. When the partnership ended about 1870, Pabst established a new cabinetmaking business at 269 South Fifth Street, where he remained until retiring in 1896. 

Armchair
Retailed by Berkey & Gay Furniture Company
(active 1861-1929)
c.1875
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Walnut; ebonizing, gilding
Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI

The Midwest was the center of machine-made furniture in late nineteenth-century America. Key cities included Cincinnati, Ohio, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. Among the large-scale factories in Grand Rapids were those of Berkey and Gay, the Phoenix Furniture Company, and Nelson, Matter & Company. The largest and most prominent furniture manufacturer in Cincinnati was Mitchell & Rammelsberg.

The mid-nineteenth century witnessed the emergence of a few large furniture manufacturing companies that employed several hundred workers and used a variety of steam-powered machines. However, the growth of machine production of furniture was hindered by the initial expense of the woodworking machinery, and consequently, machine-made furniture remained the exception rather than the rule in the middle years of the nineteenth century.  Use of steam-powered machinery in the furniture industry did not become widespread until the last three decades of the nineteenth century, when the machines were manufactured at lower cost.  

Branch showrooms of Berkey & Gay Furniture Company,
17 Elizabeth Street, New York City, New York. New York Public Library, New York, NY.

The firm of Berkey & Gay began in 1866 when George W. Gay became a partner in Berkey Brothers & Company, established several years earlier by Julius Berkey, William Berkey, and Elias Matter.  The new firm produced various grades of furniture for a primarily middle-class market in revival styles such as Renaissance and Louis XVI and later in reform styles including Eastlake and Anglo-Japanese. By the turn of the twentieth century, the company was manufacturing furniture in Colonial Revival styles. In 1929, the Simmons Company of Chicago purchased the Berkey & Gay firm; production ceased one year later.

Side Table
Attributed to Berkey & Gay Furniture Company (active 1861-1929)
c.1875
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Walnut, marquetry of various woods; ebonizing, gilding
Photograph©Kamelot Auctions, Philadelphia, PA

Nelson, Matter & Company began in 1854 when the partners E.W. Winchester and William Holdane founded a cabinetmaking establishment in Grand Rapids. The company expanded in size during the 1860s.  By 1870, through the sale of interests to James M. and Ezra T. Nelson and Elias Matter, the name changed to Nelson, Matter & Company.

Bureau
Mitchell & Rammelsberg (active 1847-1881)
c.1850-1860
Cincinnati, Ohio
Walnut; poplar, pine; marble, mirror glass
Photograph©Neal Auction Company, New Orleans, LA

Mitchell & Rammelsberg was founded in 1847 by Robert Mitchell and Frederick Rammelsberg in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Like Berkey & Gay, Mitchell & Rammeslberg produced machine-made furniture of various grades in revival styles including Gothic, Rococo, and Renaissance, and later in the reform styles associated with the Aesthetic Movement. By 1859, the company occupied two factory buildings and manufactured furniture with eighty machines powered by several steam engines. When the firm exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, it was one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the country. 

Many of the mid-western furniture companies distributed their products through branch showrooms in major cities across the United States, including New York, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Saint Louis. These companies also sold furniture on the wholesale market to furniture retailers.

Bedstead
Berkey & Gay Furniture Company (active 1861-1929)
c.1876
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Walnut
Grand Rapids Public Museum,
Grand Rapids, MI

Sideboard
c.1865
Cincinnati, Ohio
Oak; marble, mirror glass
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH

Desk
Matthews Brothers (active 1857-1937)
1870-1880
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Walnut; maple
Villa Louis Historic Site, Prairie du Chien, WI

Bureau
Berkey & Gay Furniture Company
(active 1861-1929)
c.1880
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Walnut; marble, mirror glass
Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI

Desk
Berkey & Gay Furniture Company
(active 1861-1929)
c.1880
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Ebonized wood
Grand Rapids Public Museum, Grand Rapids, MI