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Bookcase
This is a bookcase. It was made by Herter Brothers. It is dated ca. 1875 and we acquired it in 2013. Its medium is walnut, ebonized cherry, marquetry of various woods, incised gilding, plate glass, cast brass hardware. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
This tripartite inlaid bookcase cabinet was produced by the Herter Brothers, the most important 19th-century American Aesthetic Movement furniture maker. The cabinet shows the influence of the English Reform Movement architect Bruce Talbert in its ornamentation and intentionally chaste rectilinear form. The ornamentation includes marquetry motifs derived from sunflowers, a favorite symbol of both the British Aesthetic Movement and the Herter Brothers. The quality of the inlays is superb, a specialty of Herter Brothers that led to their being one of the first—if not the first—American furniture makers to have a following abroad. Herter Brothers pieces were exported to Britain at the time they were made, which raises an extremely interesting issue of the possible reciprocal influences between their work and those of their British contemporaries.
This bookcase cabinet would be the first marked piece and the first case piece of furniture by the Herter Brothers to enter museum’s collection. The shelves and top make this an excellent piece for the exhibition of period objects and book bindings.
This object was
donated by
George P. Ververis Jr..
It is credited Gift of George P. Ververis, Jr..
- Dome-shaped Architectural Staircase Model
- walnut and beechwood.
- Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw.
- 2014-11-3
- Armchair (USA)
- ash, leather, brass.
- Museum gift in loving memory of Robert Kaufmann, by his sister, Catherine Tatum.
- 2009-45-2
- Frieze, Japanese Passion Flower
- block-printed on embossed paper.
- Gift of Edith and Maude Wetmore.
- 1939-45-11-a,b
Its dimensions are
H x W x D (overall): 162.6 x 243.8 x 41.9 cm (5 ft. 4 in. x 8 ft. x 16 1/2 in.) H x W x D (each end unit): 121.9 x 68.3 x 41.3 cm (48 in. x 26 7/8 in. x 16 1/4 in.)
It has the following markings
Stamped Herter Bros once on each end piece on verso near top
Cite this object as
Bookcase; Made by Herter Brothers (United States); walnut, ebonized cherry, marquetry of various woods, incised gilding, plate glass, cast brass hardware; H x W x D (overall): 162.6 x 243.8 x 41.9 cm (5 ft. 4 in. x 8 ft. x 16 1/2 in.) H x W x D (each end unit): 121.9 x 68.3 x 41.3 cm (48 in. x 26 7/8 in. x 16 1/4 in.); Gift of George P. Ververis, Jr.; 2013-12-1-a/mm
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Passion for the Exotic: Japonism.
