Skip to main content
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) Impressive Carved Mantelcirca 1890teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plateheight 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm) image 1
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) Impressive Carved Mantelcirca 1890teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plateheight 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm) image 2
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) Impressive Carved Mantelcirca 1890teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plateheight 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm) image 3
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) Impressive Carved Mantelcirca 1890teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plateheight 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm) image 4
Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932) Impressive Carved Mantelcirca 1890teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plateheight 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm) image 5
Lot 36W

Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932)
Impressive Carved Mantel
circa 1890
teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plate
height 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm)

6 – 7 October 2020, 11:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$162,575 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Modern Decorative Art & Design specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Lockwood de Forest (1850-1932)

Impressive Carved Mantel
circa 1890
teak, carved by the Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company, India, copper, with mirror plate
height 120in (305cm); width 120in (305cm); depth 22 1/2in (57cm)

Footnotes

A tour de force of Indian carving and an exemplar of de Forest's output, this architectural chimneypiece is inspired by 16th and 17th-century Indian buildings de Forest first encountered in Ahmedabad and elsewhere in India during his travels there in the early 1880s. The cusped arch over the mirror plate is similar to that found over a doorway in Multan, India (now Pakistan), photographed by de Forest and published in his Indian Domestic Architecture of 1885, and the brackets supporting the mantel shelf and the cornice are reduced versions of familiar external supports, used by de Forest on both his New York and Santa Barbara residences.

Fireplaces were a popular feature of de Forest's work. At least three can be seen at Olana, Frederick Church's Orientalist villa near Hudson, New York; and several of his other patrons had them installed including one supplied by de Forest for the conservatory of the Ralph Augustus and Grace Harman House, Cleveland, Ohio, around 1885-1890.

Examples of the carved square panels on the frieze below the mantel shelf are illustrated by Roberta Mayer, Lockwood de Forest, 2008, p. 66. These are noted as being designed by Indian master craftsmen or mistri in Ahmedabad and shipped to New York by de Forest to be used in various furniture and interior schemes.

Literature
Mayer, Roberta A. Lockwood de Forest, 'Furnishing the Gilded Age with Passion for India', Newark, 2008, p. 66 fig. 47 for examples of the teak panel, p.139 for an illustration of the Harman House fireplace.

Exhibited
Debra Force Fine Art, 'An Exotic Journey, the Paintings and Furniture of Lockwood de Forest', January 27 - March 13 2015

Additional information

Bid now on these items

MASSIMILIANO ADAMI (B. 1969) "FOSSILLI MODERNI" STORAGE CABINET 2005, polyurethane foam, found plastic objects, painted particle board, signed "ADAMI MASSIMILIANO" with a star in marker, ht. 83 1/2, wd. 37 1/2, dp. 15 3/4 in.

JEAN DERVAL (1925-2010) BOWL WITH GAZELLE HEADS France, c. 1960, glazed stoneware, artist's signature, ht. 7, lg. handle-to-handle 17 in.

GALLE ART NOUVEAU TWO-TIERED TABLE France, c. 1900, walnut, marquetry, signed in marquetry "Galle," ht. 30 1/2. wd. 31 1/2, dp. 20 in.

PAIR OF PHILIP AND KEVIN LAVERNE DIPTYCH SIDE TABLES New York, New York, c. 1960, acid-etched, enameled, and patinated brass, pewter, wood, both with acid-etched marks "P. K. Laverne," ht. 18, wd. 29, dp. 19 in.

JACQUES BLIN (1920-1995) PITCHER France, c. 1955, glazed stoneware, sgraffito decorated with human and animal figures, incised artist's signature, ht. 14 1/2 in.

JACQUES BLIN (1920-1995) ZOOMORPHIC EWER France, c. 1960, glazed ceramic, incised mark "J Blin," ht. 13 1/4 in.

JEAN DERVAL (1925-2010) ZOOMORPHIC EWER France, L'Atelier du Portail, c. 1960, glazed earthenware, applied molded mark of the Atelier, ht. 16 1/2 in.

JEAN DERVAL (1925-2010) BIRD-FORM EWER France, L'Atelier du Portail, c. 1955, glazed earthenware, painted mark "J D" and gate and floral logo, ht. 14 1/2, wd. 10, dp. 6 in.

JACQUES BLIN (1920-1995) PITCHER France, c. 1960, glazed ceramic, incised mark "J Blin," ht. 11 1/4 in.

JEAN DERVAL (1925-2010) VASE France, c. 1955, glazed earthenware, painted mark "Jean Derval," ht. 10 1/4 in.

HARRY BERTOIA (1915-1978) UNTITLED (SMALL WHEAT) United States, 1968, steel, paper labels for the Gould Collection and Sid Deutsch Gallery, New York, ht. 24 1/4, base 8 x 8 in.