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American Windsor Chairs
Windsor chairs of the 18th and 19th Century are often depicted in American folk paintings of the same period. They are colorful, plentiful, and come in many styles. Carved mahogany Chippendale furniture of this period and later the more elegant inlaid Federal furniture was for only the very wealthiest consumers; however, Windsor furniture was available to the middle and lower classes because it was relatively inexpensive. The best antique Windsor furniture [...] Click here to continue reading.
Kneehole
A kneehole is an open spatial volume at the center of a desk or dressing (bureau) table flanked by pedestals of drawers. The space is typically shallow and closed at the back by a compartment with door. In a desk, the kneehole is usually overlaid by a short ‘lap’ drawer flanked on either side by another short drawer. In a dressing or bureau table, the kneehole is usually overlaid by one long drawer. [...] Click here to continue reading.
Collection of Earle and Yvonne Henderson, Charming Forge Mansion, Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania
CHARMING FORGE MANSION¦AT A GLANCE
Charming Forge Mansion, located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, is nestled atop a hill overlooking a site that once buzzed with industrial activity and the clanking of a forge hammer. The forge is closed now and many of the buildings are gone but the mansion still looks out over the Tulpehocken Creek that once powered this magnificent [...] Click here to continue reading.
A Chapter in the Mallard Legend: The Family Offers His Personal Possessions at Auction
Families that inherit historical artifacts related to their famous or infamous ancestors often possess both a blessing and a burden. So it was for the descendants of Prudent Mallard (1809 to 1879), the renowned New Orleans 19th century merchant and probable cabinetmaker.
When Mallard’s widow, Augustine, died in 1889 (ten years after Prudent) her will contained instructions for the division [...] Click here to continue reading.
The Prudent Mallard Legend
Prudent Mallard (1809 to 1879) was a renowned New Orleans nineteenth century merchant and probable cabinetmaker. Many collectors and experts consider Mallard to be the leading, even iconic, figure in nineteenth century furniture in the lower South. Tom Halverson, Director of American Furniture and Decorative Arts for the New Orleans Auction Galleries believes that Mallard’s fame was well deserved. “I believe that by the middle of the nineteenth century the [...] Click here to continue reading.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)
Born in 1886 in Aachen, Germany, van der Rohe’s original name was Maria Ludwig Michael Mies. He began his working life toiling as a stone carver in his father’s business, but by 1908 was an apprentice in the design studio of Peter Behrens. There, he worked with the likes of Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, pioneers of modern architecture who were seeking a non-derivative style that was pure [...] Click here to continue reading.
Fylfot Decorative Motifs
Fylfots are early design forms of the swastika. The design is frequently encountered in Pennsylvania Dutch decoration in a form that many say resembles a pinwheel. Never a widely used word, etymologists attribute the meaning to Middle English on the basis of one usage in a text from 1500. There, fylfot is used for the design because it was allegedly frequently used to “fill” the “foot” of a stained glass window [...] Click here to continue reading.
Jacob Werry, Ohio Cabinetmaker
A Mennonite, Jacob Werrey (1838 to 1893) lived in German Township, Fulton County, Ohio. Census records indicate his profession as a farmer, though his obituary identifies him as a carpenter. His furniture was painstakingly crafted in the Germanic tradition and is in every aspect equal to examples of similar heritage from other regions.
Approximately twenty pieces of Werrey-made furniture survive and date between 1863 and 1889. The majority are blanket [...] Click here to continue reading.
Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener was born in Heidau, Snesia, circa 1848 and died in 1925. He is listed as working in Paris between 1880-1895 at the rue de la Roquette. Present scholarship suggests that Joseph Emmanuel Zwiener and the ebeiste Julius Zwiener, who worked in a remarkably similar style are the same maker. Joseph Emmauel is not recorded in Paris after 1895. At that point, the Paris workshop appears to have been taken over by [...] Click here to continue reading.
The J. M. Young Furniture Co.
The J.M. Young Furniture Company began as early as 1872, producing a general line of Victorian furniture. It was a small, family-run company that had fewer than twenty employees. By 1904, Young offered a range of Mission furniture designs based on the work of Gustav and L. & J.G. Stickley. The construction of the furniture included well-done, five-part posts on settles and poorly added though-tenons on Morris chairs. [...] Click here to continue reading.
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