Benjamin Walker
Head of Dept.
Lot 34W
Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1930) for L.C. Tiffany & Co. Important Armchair
circa 1879
from the salon of the George Kemp House, New York
carved holly inlaid with other woods, silk upholstery
height 42in (107cm); width 24in (61cm); depth 27in (69cm)
circa 1879
from the salon of the George Kemp House, New York
carved holly inlaid with other woods, silk upholstery
height 42in (107cm); width 24in (61cm); depth 27in (69cm)
6 – 7 October 2020, 11:00 EDT
New YorkSold for US$237,575 inc. premium
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Dan Tolson
International Director
Louis C. Tiffany (1848-1930) for L.C. Tiffany & Co.
Important Armchair
circa 1879
from the salon of the George Kemp House, New York
carved holly inlaid with other woods, silk upholstery
height 42in (107cm); width 24in (61cm); depth 27in (69cm)
circa 1879
from the salon of the George Kemp House, New York
carved holly inlaid with other woods, silk upholstery
height 42in (107cm); width 24in (61cm); depth 27in (69cm)
Footnotes
Much of the furniture Tiffany installed in George Kemp's residence at 720 Fifth Avenue including the present armchair, a companion now in the Munson Williams Proctor Museum (accession number 2009.14), and another parlor chair from the salon now in the Newark Museum (96.87), was probably designed by Tiffany himself and executed by Louis C. Tiffany & Company, one of at least three firms Tiffany had established in 1879/80 to support his interior design business, this one dedicated to the manufacture of furniture.
The stiles, arms, frieze, and stretchers of this armchair are elaborately embellished all over with carved ginkgo leaves. The scalloped crestrail inlaid to show leaves and blossoms is likely derived from 17th-century Mughal designs, with Samuel Coleman's extensive collection of textiles probably serving as Tiffany's sources for such motifs. The similarities between the furniture in the Kemp salon and Lockwood de Forest's furniture produced a few years later suggests that de Forest was influenced by Tiffany's experimental furniture designs for the Kemp salon.
Literature
G.W. Sheldon, 'Artistic Houses, Being a Series of Interior Views of a Number of the Most Beautiful and Celebrated Homes in the United States', New York, 1883 (reprinted 1971), Vol. 1 Part 1. pp. 53-54
Meyer, Roberta A., Lockwood de Forest, 'Furnishing the Gilded Age with a Passion for India', Newark, 2008 pp. 86-97
Oakey, Alexander F. 'A Trial Balance of Decoration', in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. LXIV, 1882 pp. 732-741
Mayer, Roberta A, and Carolyn K. Lane, 'Disassociating the 'Associated Artists' The Early Business Ventures of Louis C. Tiffany', Candace T. Wheeler and Lockwood de Forest, in Studies in the Decorative Arts, Vol. 8, No. 2, University of Chicago, 2001, pp. 10-11
