Arts & Crafts
Arts & Crafts
-
George Washington Maher “Rockledge” American Arts & Crafts tall chest of drawers 1911-12
GEORGE WASHINGTON MAHER (1864-1926) USA
Rockledge “Man’s chest of drawers” for E.L. King (unique) 1911-12
Original vintage cream/white painted surface (some losses to the top surface) on hardwood structure with original bronze drawer pulls (natural patina)
Provenance: Ernest & Grace King, henceforth descended through the King family; Private Collection, Wisconsin from Hollander Auction Gallery, Milwaukee WI (1982); Private Collection, New York
Illustrated: The Western Architect, “Geo. W. Maher, a democrat in Architecture” (March 1914, n. p. – for a period photograph showing this model in situ in the master bedroom), Prairie School Architecture: Studies from “The Western Architect” H. Allen Brooks (Toronto, 1975, p. 179).
H: 71” x W: 44 ¾” x D: 26 ¼”
(Gift to The Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami Beach, FL)
Information and other examples from the Maher / Rockledge commission can be found in the following books and publications: The Art that is Life: The Arts and Crafts Movement in America, 1875-1920, ed. Wendy Kaplan, (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1987), pp. 396-400,The Ideal Home: The History of Twentieth Century American Craft, 1900-1920, Janet Kardon (New York: Abrams, 1993) cover illus. and p. 205; Geo. W. Maher Quarterly, Oct.-Dec., 1992, pp. 1, 16, 17; Arts, December, 1995, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn. cover and back cover.
Examples of artworks from Rockledge are in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, NY, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Newark Museum, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Milwaukee Art Museum, The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, FL, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Dallas Museum of Art and the St. Louis Art Museum.
In 1912 George Washington Maher designed Rockledge, a summer residence near Homer, Minnesota, for E.L. King. Sited just beneath a cliff along the Mississippi River, Rockledge is considered the finest residence of Maher’s career and a perfect example of his motif-rhythm theory of architectural design.
***Please note that the chest in the period illustration (as the pairing on view) is the woman’s version chest of drawers, which is slightly smaller and has the open segmental arched top. This chest can now be found in the collection of the Milwaukee Art Museum. On the other hand the man’s chest of drawers is a larger piece of furniture and has the segmental arch contained within the overall rectangular form of the back support. As a further note, the rocker is now in the permanent collection of the Detroit Institute of Art, courtesy of Historical Design Inc.
-
Roycroft / American Arts & Crafts Pair of Candlesticks c. 1915
ROYCROFT COPPER SHOP East Aurora, N.Y.
Pair of candlesticks c. 1915.
Hand wrought and textured copper, silver-plated.
Marks: impressed R, in orb with cross, ROYCROFT
For more information see: The American Arts & Crafts Movement in Western New York 1900-1928, Bruce A. Austin (Rochester Institute of Technology, 1992); Arts & Crafts Movement in New York State 1890’s – 1920’s, Coy Ludwig (Hamilton, N.Y.: Gallery Association of New York, 1983).
H: 6″ x W: 6 7/8″ x D: 2 5/8″
-
Sara Sax / Rookwood Pottery Arts & Crafts Art Nouveau “Poppy” pitcher 1906
SARA SAX (1870-1949)
ROOKWOOD POTTERY Cincinnati, OH“Poppy” pitcher 1906
High fire ceramic with “Iris” glaze depicting five salmon pink poppies in various stages of blooming all on a rare handled pitcher form.
Marks: RP insignia, VI (1906), SAX (intertwined for Sara Sax), 772
For more information on Rookwood see: The Book of Rookwood Pottery, Herbert Peck (New York: Bonanza, 1968) pp. 60, 63, 64, 112, 140, 146, & 156 ; American Ceramics: The Collection of Everson Museum of Art, ed. Barbara Perry (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1989) p.108.
H: 8 1/4″ x Dia: 4 1/2″
-
Walter Klein / Erhard & Soehne Verdegreen patinated bronze box with a whiplash floral motif, c. 1900
ERHARD & SÖHNE Germany (founded 1844)
Verdegreen patinated bronze box with a whiplash floral motif, c. 1900
For more information see: Metallkunst: Silber, Kupfer, Messing, Zinn vom Jugendstil zur Moderne (1889-1939), Band IV, Ingeborg Becker (Berlin: Bröhan-Museum, 1990)
H: 4″ x L: 8 3/4″ x D: 6 1/4″
-
Louis C. Tiffany / Tiffany Studios Rare Kettle-on-Stand c. 1902
LOUIS C. TIFFANY (1848-1933) USA
TIFFANY STUDIOS New YorkKettle-on-Stand c.1902
Silver on copper with carved teak wood handles and finial in an organic-form and hexagonal shaped kettle-on-stand with burner
Marks: Tiffany Studios, New York (on all three pieces)
Illustrated: The Art of Louis Comfort Tiffany, Donald L. Stover (The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 1981), p. 88, illus. 189 (description on p. 96); Tiffany at Auction, Alastair Duncan (New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 1981) p. 50, pl. 137.
A rare example of a subtle organic-form and hexagonal shaped kettle-on-stand emulating pooling water in a Japanese influenced design by Louis Comfort Tiffany and made by Tiffany Studios
H: 10 1/2″ x D: 8″ x W: 9″
-
British Arts & Crafts “School of Mackintosh” Glasgow Rose box c. 1900
SCHOOL OF MACKINTOSH (1868-1928) UK
Box with hinged cover c. 1900
Silver plate with a large abstract heart design and stylized Glasgow rose motifs in bas-relief.
Illustrated: Modern Silver throughout the world, 1880-1967, Graham Hughes (New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1967), p. 145.
H: 2″ x W: 6 1/4″ x D: 4 3/4″
-
Julia Edna Mattson – Univ. of North Dakota American Art Pottery Vase circa 1913-20
JULIA EDNA MATTSON (d.1967) Grand Forks, ND
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA Grand Forks, NDVase c. 1913-1920
Earthen-ware with blue-green glaze, incised with lime-green linear decoration
Marks: University of North Dakota, Made at School of Mines, Barclay, Grand forks, ND (Cobalt blue seal), JM (Julia Mattson)
For more information see: Barr, Paul E. North Dakota Artists. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota Library, 1954; Miller, Don. University of North Dakota Pottery: The Cable Years. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota Visual Arts Dept., 1999; Palmer, Bertha Rachael. Beauty Spots in North Dakota. Boston: Bruce Humphries, Inc., 1939
H: 3 5/8″ x Dia: 5 1/4″
Price: $3,250
Julia Edna Mattson worked as an instructor and later as Assistant Professor in the University of North Dakota’s Ceramic department between the years 1924-1963. Her designs reflect an interest in the Arts and Crafts movement in America and American Indian pottery. Early UND pottery is characteristic of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau movement. The decoration of this vessel recalls the graphic designs found on Indian basketry as well as the Prairie School windows of Frank Lloyd Wright.
-
Gorham T.B. Starr Important Sterling “Macy” Renaissance Revival Pitcher 1893
GORHAM MFG. CO SILVERSMITHS Providence, RI
THEODORE B. STARR RetailerRenaissance Revival pitcher 1893
A highly important Gorham sterling pitcher chased with mythological faces, putti and various scrolling foliate patterns, the handle in the form of Pan with four sphinx figures supporting the base, all with elaborate and exquisite hand chasing and repousse throughout. Extremely fine original condition with original gilded interior.
Marks: Lion, Anchor, G (Gorham silver touch marks), EX. (Exhibition), Theodore B. Starr, 6 pint, Sterling, 1805, double circle touch mark (date mark for 1893)
Provenance: Private Collection, New York; Private Collection Florida from 1984 to 2009; directly descended in the family of Thomas H. Macy (founder of Nantucket) prior to 1984
Weight: 74 troy oz.
H: 13″ x W: 10″ x D: 7″
-
George Richards Elkington British Sterling Trompe L’Oeil Covered Box 1854
George Richards Elkington (1801-1865)
Trompe L’Oeil Box 1854
Sterling silver shallow box with a hinged lid of a life-size trompe l’oeil damask napkin neatly folded on a gilt-sterling Georgian dinner plate
Weight: 45 troy ounces
Marks: GRE makers mark, London hallmarks for 1854H: 2″ x Dia: 10 1/2″
-
Ando Jubei Japanese Meiji Period Arts & Crafts Enamel and Copper Box c. 1900
Ando Jubei Nagoya, Japan
Japanese Meiji Period (1868-1912) JapanEnamel and copper covered box circa 1900
Patinated copper, applied foil-backed enameled red berries, stylized green leaves and vines, riveted corners.
H: 1 5/8″ x D: 4″ x W: 5 3/4″
-
Sydney Pitcher “St. Martin’s Cross Iona” Arts & Crafts photograph c. 1900
SYDNEY PITCHER F.R.P.S. (d. 1950) England
ARTHUR H. PITCHER (Framer)“St. Martin’s Cross Iona” c.1900
Carbon process photograph, hand carved oak frame with beautiful wood grain detail.
Marks: S MARTINS CROSS IONA (carved incised mark)
Art Nouveau paper label (on back): Framed by Arthur H. Pitcher, College Court, Gloucester, Moulding No…..Photograph: H: 9 1/2″ x W: 5″
Frame: H: 16 3/4″ x W: 8 5/8″ D: 5/8″Sydney A. Pitcher FRPS (active 1904-1939) was a photographer with an interest in monument and church architecture. He is listed in the 1927 Kelly’s Directory of the County of Gloucester as a commercial photographer, publisher and picture frame maker, operating from 5 & 7 College Court, Gloucester. Pitcher was involved primarily in the photography of Gloucestershire churches, but also took pictures of churches and cathedrals in neighbouring counties, and of medieval sculptures at Winchester College. He collaborated on the publication of Rushforth’s series of volumes The stained glass of Great Malvern Priory Church , Gloucester, 1916-1927.
He joined the Royal Photographic Society in 1904, was admitted as an Associate member in 1925, and became a Fellow in 1928.
-
Mitsukoshi Japan / Early Showa Period Silver Vase c. 1925-30
MITSUKOSHI Japan
EARLY SHOWA PERIOD (1926-1989) JapanVase c. 1925-30
Silver with repoussé blossoms and leaves on a bulbous form with collar
Marks: Mitsukoshi (Japanese characters)
H: 6” x D: 9 1/2”
SOLD
-
John Pearson / British Arts & Crafts Handwrought copper tea caddy c. 1900
JOHN PEARSON (19th century) UK
Tea caddy c. 1900
Handwrought copper with rivets, repoussé lid with 4 heart-shaped leaves, rich red brown original patina
Marked: JP in an oval cartouche (on bottom)
H: 4 1/2″ x D: 4 1/4″
For more information on Pearson see: CR Ashbee: architect, designer & romantic socialist, Alan Crawford (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985), pp. 32-33, 46, 313-316; Reflections: arts and crafts metalwork in England and the United States (New York: Kurland – Zabar, 1990), pp. 32-33.
Pearson was an original member of CR Ashbee’s Guild of Handicraft starting in 1888. He later resigned to join the Newlyn Industrial Class. He also worked for the designer & ceramicist William De Morgan which is where many of his fanciful themes in repousse are inspired. He is considered one of the finest repousse metalsmiths of the period. His shop remained active until after the turn of the century, most pieces are dated.
-
Hendrik Petrus Berlage Holland Rare Architectural Candelabrum c. 1900
HENDRIK PETRUS BERLAGE (1856 – 1934) Netherlands
BECHT & DYSERINCK for ‘t BinnenhuisRare Architectural Candelabrum c. 1900
Riveted and detailed “Eiffel Tower” like form in brass and copper with four feet, small cut out designs and two bobeche trays supporting five candles.
H: 14″ x W: 8 1/4″ x D: 8 1/4″
Hendrik Petrus Berlage, a Dutch architect and designer attended the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and a year later switched to architecture. Berlage enrolled in 1875 in the architecture department of the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich. Through 1878 Berlage studied in Zurich under Gottfried Semper, whose teachings had a lasting influence on his work. After finishing these studies, Berlage spent three years traveling in Germany (1879) and Italy (1880-1881) before returning to his native Amsterdam. From 1881 Berlage was employed by the Amsterdam architect Theodor Sanders and from 1884 Berlage was a partner in the business until he opened his own practice in 1889. In 1884 he submitted a design for the projected Commodity Exchange (Beurs van Berlage) in Amsterdam, winning the competition in 1896. This building, completed in 1903, was Hendrik Paulus Berlage’s first important commission, which also solidified his reputation. Also in Amsterdam and at this same time, Berlage built the Diamond Guild building (1897-1900). In 1900 along with the architect and designer Jacob van den Bosch, Hendrik Paulus Berlage opened the gallery, “‘t Binnenhuis”. They sold their own designed furniture and objects they from 1900-1929. In 1900 Berlage was also commissioned to plan a southern extension of Amsterdam. This was Berlage’s most important contribution to urban planning and he worked on the project until 1915. In 1911 Berlage went to the US, where he saw the new buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Sullivan. Berlage built his own house in The Hague and moved into it with his family in 1913. The Gemeentemuseum in The Hague (1919-1935) was Berlage’s last important building, however it was not completed until shortly after his death. Hendrik Petrus Berlage was the founder of the “Amsterdam School” and was a pioneer of modern architecture in the Netherlands. In his 1905 essay “Gedanken über Stil in der Baukunst”, Berlage fiercely criticized 19th-century historicizing architecture as pompous, reserving his praise for the austere simplicity of early period styles. His criticism was severe since he stated flatly that historicizing architecture was all appearance rather than reality, was not art; too much was imitation, more iron was used than stone, and so on. Hendrik Petrus Berlage was therefore an early critic of Historicism even though his Amsterdam Exchange still reveals Romanesque features.
-
American Folk Art, Pine Tree and Shaker Style House andirons c. 1920’s
MASSACHUSETTS IRON WORKS Saugus area
Pine Tree and Shaker Style House andirons c. 1920’s
Cast and hand finished iron with a natural black/brown patina.
H: 22 1/2″ x W: 20 1/2″ x D: 16″
This pair of extraordinary andirons are a unique expression of American Folk Art at it’s best. The tall tree form resembles a towering carved wood version of a pine tree in 1 1/2″ thick cast iron and the Shaker Style house with a classic pitched roof and chimney has four “windows” that light up when the fire is roaring from behind. These are a substantial and gutsy design and are a very rare find in the world of Americana.
-
Albert Edward Jones British Arts & Crafts Copper and Lapis Lazuli Box c.1905
Albert Edward Jones (1879-1954) Birmingham, UK
British Arts & Crafts MovementFooted box with hinged lid and hasp 1905
Hand wrought and patinated copper with riveted strap work and hasp, inset with 4 cabochons of lapis lazuli, brown leather and wood interior.
This box is a particularly handsome example of British arts & crafts metalwork by the famous designer / craftsman A.E. Jones. It retains its original deep, rich chocolate brown patina with the contrasting cobalt blue large round bezel-set cabochons of lapis lazuli.
H: 2 1/2″ x D: 4 3/4″ x W: 6 1/2″
-
Willem Brouwer Dutch Art Nouveau / Arts & Crafts Pottery Vase c. 1905
WILLEM COENRAAD BROUWER (1877-1933) The Netherlands
POTTERIJ VREDELUST Leiderdorp, The NetherlandsVase with handles c. 1905
Brown glazed red clay with tan light brown cut out overlaid and sgraffito decoration in a stylized organic motif, two applied looping handles
Marks: Brouwer 139 (incised)
For similar work see: Dutch Decorative Arts 1880-1940, eds. Titus M. Eliëns, Marjan Groot, Frans Leidelmeijer (New York: Battledore Ltd.,1997),p. 56; Leven in een verzameling: Toegepaste kunst 1890-1940 uit de collectie Meentwijck (Laren: Singer Museum, 2000), illus. 76, 77, p. 74.
For more information on Brouwer see: Art Nouveau en Art Deco in Nederland: verzamelobjecten uit de vernieuwingen in de kunstnijverheid van 1890 tot 1940, Frans Leidelmeijer and Daan van der Cingel (city unknown: Meulenhoff/ Landshoff, 1983), pp. 80-82.
H: 6″ x Dia: 5″
-
Sweetser Co. American Arts & Crafts Sterling, Copper and Jade Cigar Box c. 1910
The Sweetser Co. New York, New York
(active 1900-1915)Covered cigar box c. 1910
Elaborately etched sterling silver cover with a spherical jade finial and a copper box bottom, wood lined
Marks: S & E in three separate boxes (2x), STERLING, 2158
H: 4 3/4″ x D: 6 1/8″ x W: 7 5/8″
The Sweetser Co. New York, NY was active 1900-1915 and were manufacturers of fancy gold and sterling wares
-
George Washington Maher “Rockledge” American Arts & Crafts side chair 1911-12
George Washington Maher (1864-1926) USA
Rockledge side chair, 1911-1912.
Stained oak with the original leather upholstery and leather-covered tacks.
Provenance: Ernest L. & Grace King residence, Homer, Minnesota
H: 40 ¾” W: 18 ½” x D: 20 ¼”
(Gift to The Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami Beach, FL)
In 1912 George Washington Maher designed Rockledge, a summer residence near Homer, Minnesota, for E.L. King. Sited just beneath a cliff along the Mississippi River, Rockledge is considered the finest residence of Maher’s career and a perfect example of his motif-rhythm theory of architectural design.
Information and other examples from the Maher / Rockledge commission can be found in the following books and publications: The Art that is Life: The Arts and Crafts Movement in America, 1875-1920, ed. Wendy Kaplan, (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1987), pp. 396-400,The Ideal Home: The History of Twentieth Century American Craft, 1900-1920, Janet Kardon (New York: Abrams, 1993) cover illus. and p. 205; Geo. W. Maher Quarterly, Oct.-Dec., 1992, pp. 1, 16, 17; Arts, December, 1995, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minn. cover and back cover.
Examples of artworks from Rockledge are in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, NY, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The Minnesota Historical Society, The Newark Museum, The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Milwaukee Art Museum, The Wolfsonian, Miami Beach, FL, Dallas Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the St. Louis Art Museum.
-
Amsterdam School / Art Deco Mirror 1920-25
AMSTERDAM SCHOOL The Netherlands
Mirror 1920-25
Richly patinated gold brown and black hand-wrought copper wave detail, flanges and riveting
For more information on the Amsterdam School see: The Amsterdam School: Dutch Expressionist Architecture, 1915-1930, W. de Wit, ed. (New York: Cooper-Hewitt Museum; Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1983).
H: 17 1/4” x W: 13 1/2”
Price: $5,500
-
Edward Spencer/Artificers’ Guild (attr.) British Arts & Crafts wrought iron candlesticks c. 1910
Edward Spencer attr. (1872-1938) UK
Artificer’s Guild (1901-42) UKPair of candlesticks circa 1910.
Handwrought iron with a squared central support terminating in a attenuated vine like wrap.
H: 10 1/2″ x Dia: 5 1/2″
The Artificers’ Guild Ltd was founded in 1901 by the metalwork and enameler Nelson Dawson (1859-1942). It was one of the few guilds inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement to enjoy real commercial success, and remained in operation until 1938. It was bought out in 1903 by the Birmingham entrepreneur Montague Fordham and established on a more commercial footing, producing domestic metalwork, church plate and furnishings, presentation plate and jewelry.
Fordham promoted Edward Spencer (1873-1938), previously Dawson’s principal designer, to be Director of the Guild’s workshop in Hammersmith. The Guild also had a showroom originally located just off Regent Street. Spencer died in 1938, shortly after the firm was wound up. During its existence, the Guild operated as a substantial business, employing over 40 staff at its peak, including a large number of skilled craftsmen, many of whom would have been trained in the Guild’s workshop. Although unacknowledged for much of the 20th century, the Guild is now recognized as an important producer of high quality metalwork and jewelry during this period.
-
Louis Bogtman / Amsterdam School wood bowl with “batik” hand painted decoration, artist monogram, c. 1925