George Hunzinger
A German cabinetmaker from the same province as John Henry Belter, George Hunzinger (1835 to 1898) arrived in New York in 1855 and began his work as a cabinetmaker. His company continued to produce furniture well into the 20th century. Hunzinger is most famous for his “patent furniture”. Collapsible chairs, folding chairs, platform rockers (that did not take up as much room as conventional ones), and a method for upholstering by covering steel ribbons with silk are all part of his legacy. By the end of his life, he held over twenty-one patents for different production methods of furniture. While the knobs and turnings of his chairs recall a Renaissance Revival style, in actuality the method of manufacture or engineering dictated the style of the piece in a way that had been unknown before. No romanticizing the past for him, Hunzinger was a man of the modern age with a conviction that the machine represented the way of the future, and his furniture style reflects that.
He is best known for a diagonally braced side chair, patented in 1869. These chairs must have been made in vast quantities, for they are easily found today in the marketplace and not expensive. The chair consists of cylindrically turned crest rails above an oval upholstered seat back flanked by diagonally placed legs joined by a bolt to the seat back so that it could fold flat. These chairs could be painted and gilded, carved and upholstered, or left very plain, depending on the client’s price-point. Most Hunzinger furniture bears an incised stamp on the back of a leg or brace indicating where it was manufactured and the date of the patent. Rockers generally have a paper label.
Hunzinger furniture does not carry the grace and elegance of Belter. It does, however, reflect the excitement of the modern age. By registering patents for all of his engineering innovations, Hunzinger became one of the first furniture makers to evolve from artisan to businessperson.
Reference note by p4A.com Contributing Editor Jan W. Hack.