Lot Essay
The table illustrated here has a history of ownership belonging to the Robinson Family of Spartanburg, South Carolina. According to tradition, the table was presented by the Western Telegraph Company to a member of the Robinson Family who was an employee of the company. The Western Telegraph Company subsequently became Western Union.
The earliest reference to a Robinson working for the Western Telegraph Company or Western Union occurs in the Johnson's Directory of Spartanburg, South Carolina for the years 1896-1897, and lists Frank P. Robinson as the manager of the company living at 130 N. Church Street with Ginny C. Robinson, the widow of Rufus W. and presumably Frank's mother. North Church Street at this time was a relatively affluent street of large houses, close to the center of town, the local college and courthouse. By 1903, the next available city directory lists Robinson as the manager of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company, and relocated to the residence of W.I. Harris at 56 N. Converse Street, also a residential neighborhood close to downtown. Robinson's mother is still listed in the household which had expanded by one to include Lilly, Frank's wife (Courtesy of the Regional Museum of Spartanburg County, a division of the Spartanburg County Historical Society; and the Spartanburg Public Library). Accordingly it is possible, though entirely conjectural, that this table was presented to Frank Robinson either upon his becoming manager of Western Union or upon his departure from the company. It descended in the family since that time.
The Robinson table illustrated here is branded on the underside of the drawer framing elements "HERTER BRO'S" and bears many similarities to parts of several other documented Herter examples. The manufacturer's brand is identical to that illustrated in Howe, et al., Herter Brothers: Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age (New York, 1994), p. 224, cat. no. 18; the brasses are identical to those illustrated p. 224, cat. no. 22. The carved columnar leg with gilt background is similar to that seen in Howe, et al., p. 221, cat. no. 22, and is a decorative technique comparable to that seen on several Herter forms including the open splat carving of a side chair (see Howe, et al., p. 222, cat. no. 33). The central marquetry-inlaid swallow and flowering dogwood branch roundel of the Robinson table is reminiscent of the marquetry-inlaid birds perched on a foliate twig with faux lapis ground used by Gustav Herter on a center table made circa 1860 for Ruggles S. Morse in Portland, Maine. This aesthetic movement conception and juxtaposition of animals, birds or insects with various vegetation was inspired by late nineteenth century interest in Japanese design, and is seen repeatedly in other Herter forms such as a looking glass presently in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, illustrated Howe, et al., p.231; the splat of a side chair made for the Mark Hopkins residence (Howe et al., p. 177, cat. no. 25); the carving on two cabinets illustrated and discussed Howe, et al., pp. 178-179, cat. no. 26; and in the painted panel and inlay decoration of a sideboard now at the Art Institute of Chicago (Howe et al., p. 192, cat. no. 32).
The most closely related form to the table offered here is a rosewood and marquetry-inlaid center table probably made for Colonel James Elverson of Philadelphia, circa 1874, now in The Cleveland Museum of Art and illustrated and discussed in Howe, et al., p. 172, cat. no. 22. The Robinson table is almost identical to the Elverson example in proportion, hardware, skirt design concept, leg design and maker's identification. The few differences include overall wood choice, drawer arrangement, stretcher design and the presence of thin, gilt circular plinths under the claw feet of the Elverson table that do not appear on the Robinson form.
A third center table which belonged to coach and railroad magnate James Goodwin is related to the Elverson form and therefore the Robinson example. It was used in the parlor of Goodwin's Hartford, Connecticut home, Woodlands, and is presently in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum. According to Herter scholar Ann Claggett Wood, only the marquetry and brass pulls differ between the Goodwin and Elverson table (see Howe, et al., p. 173).
The earliest reference to a Robinson working for the Western Telegraph Company or Western Union occurs in the Johnson's Directory of Spartanburg, South Carolina for the years 1896-1897, and lists Frank P. Robinson as the manager of the company living at 130 N. Church Street with Ginny C. Robinson, the widow of Rufus W. and presumably Frank's mother. North Church Street at this time was a relatively affluent street of large houses, close to the center of town, the local college and courthouse. By 1903, the next available city directory lists Robinson as the manager of the Postal Telegraph Cable Company, and relocated to the residence of W.I. Harris at 56 N. Converse Street, also a residential neighborhood close to downtown. Robinson's mother is still listed in the household which had expanded by one to include Lilly, Frank's wife (Courtesy of the Regional Museum of Spartanburg County, a division of the Spartanburg County Historical Society; and the Spartanburg Public Library). Accordingly it is possible, though entirely conjectural, that this table was presented to Frank Robinson either upon his becoming manager of Western Union or upon his departure from the company. It descended in the family since that time.
The Robinson table illustrated here is branded on the underside of the drawer framing elements "HERTER BRO'S" and bears many similarities to parts of several other documented Herter examples. The manufacturer's brand is identical to that illustrated in Howe, et al., Herter Brothers: Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age (New York, 1994), p. 224, cat. no. 18; the brasses are identical to those illustrated p. 224, cat. no. 22. The carved columnar leg with gilt background is similar to that seen in Howe, et al., p. 221, cat. no. 22, and is a decorative technique comparable to that seen on several Herter forms including the open splat carving of a side chair (see Howe, et al., p. 222, cat. no. 33). The central marquetry-inlaid swallow and flowering dogwood branch roundel of the Robinson table is reminiscent of the marquetry-inlaid birds perched on a foliate twig with faux lapis ground used by Gustav Herter on a center table made circa 1860 for Ruggles S. Morse in Portland, Maine. This aesthetic movement conception and juxtaposition of animals, birds or insects with various vegetation was inspired by late nineteenth century interest in Japanese design, and is seen repeatedly in other Herter forms such as a looking glass presently in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, illustrated Howe, et al., p.231; the splat of a side chair made for the Mark Hopkins residence (Howe et al., p. 177, cat. no. 25); the carving on two cabinets illustrated and discussed Howe, et al., pp. 178-179, cat. no. 26; and in the painted panel and inlay decoration of a sideboard now at the Art Institute of Chicago (Howe et al., p. 192, cat. no. 32).
The most closely related form to the table offered here is a rosewood and marquetry-inlaid center table probably made for Colonel James Elverson of Philadelphia, circa 1874, now in The Cleveland Museum of Art and illustrated and discussed in Howe, et al., p. 172, cat. no. 22. The Robinson table is almost identical to the Elverson example in proportion, hardware, skirt design concept, leg design and maker's identification. The few differences include overall wood choice, drawer arrangement, stretcher design and the presence of thin, gilt circular plinths under the claw feet of the Elverson table that do not appear on the Robinson form.
A third center table which belonged to coach and railroad magnate James Goodwin is related to the Elverson form and therefore the Robinson example. It was used in the parlor of Goodwin's Hartford, Connecticut home, Woodlands, and is presently in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum. According to Herter scholar Ann Claggett Wood, only the marquetry and brass pulls differ between the Goodwin and Elverson table (see Howe, et al., p. 173).