Herter Brothers : furniture and interiors for a gilded age
Details
Type of record: Book
Title: Herter Brothers : furniture and interiors for a gilded age
Classmark: Bedford Collection B393
Creator(s): Howe, Katherine S (1946-)
Additional creator(s): Bedford, John Victor (1941-2019) (Former owner); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Host institution); High Museum of Art (Host institution); Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.) (Host institution)
Related people: Herter, Gustave, 1830-1892; Herter, Christian Augustus Ludwig, 1839-1883
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Publication city: New York
Date(s): 1994
Language: English
Size and medium: 272 pages
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/730630
Printed items catalogue: https://leeds.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?vid=44LEE_INST:VU1&docid=alma991019896854505181
Collection group(s): John Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History
Description
"Published on the occasion of the exhibition... organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with the High Museum of Art, Atlanta."--Title page verso.
Exhibition held at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 21-October 23, 1994; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, December 13, 1994-February 12, 1995 ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 15-July 9, 1995.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 260-262) and index.
In 1848, Gustave Herter arrived in America from Germany, fleeing political and economic chaos. His brother, Christian, joined him a decade later. By 1875 their firm, renamed Herter Brothers, was supplying the White House with furnishings, as it had been doing for some of America's wealthiest families since 1858. During this opulent period, Herter Brothers could claim to be the leading cabinetmaking and decorating firm in the country. The best of the Herter Brothers' furniture and interiors are displayed in 133 color and 167 black-and-white illustrations, including many close-up details as well as comparative work by rival fine cabinetmakers of the time in New York and Europe. Herter Brothers tells the story of the company from its earliest manifestations, when Gustave worked with other partners and alone, through his partnership with his brother, to Christian's years as head of the firm and the end of his tenure.
The book places the company firmly in its context, international as well as domestic, with an extensive discussion of the brothers' background and influences and an absorbing narrative of the furniture and decoration trade in New York City in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Also described is the superb work done by the firm for their fabulously wealthy patrons - a who's who of the Gilded Age, including J. Pierpont Morgan, William H. Vanderbilt, and Jay Gould - for whom the Herters created some of their most lavish furniture and complete interiors. These commissions, many illustrated here, included woodwork, plasterwork, lighting fixtures, window treatments, wall and ceiling paintings, carpets, textiles, mosaics, stained glass, and decorative objects in addition to furniture.
Provenance
Leeds University Library copy at Bedford Collection B393: From the John Evan Bedford Library, gifted in 2019. Twenty-first-century pictorial bookplate on front pastedown: John Evan Bedford. Former reference: FFS/31.
Access and usage
Access
This material is not subject to restrictions under Data Protection or other relevant legislation that might limit access. However, other protections, such as donor conditions or conservation considerations, may still apply where advised.