拍品专文
These chairs, with their simple construction and minimal decoration, reflect the "honest" aesthetic principles advocated by designer Charles Locke Eastlake in his influential book, Hints on Household Taste (London, 1868). The publication was widely circulated in America and its tenets served as guidelines for the American Arts and Crafts movement. One such Eastlake "hint" clearly relevant to these chairs is as follows: "Order what article you require to be made in solid wood (mahogany) and either simply rubbed with boiled oil or if they must be stained at all let them be stained black."
With their leaf-carved crest, these chairs also relate to the interest in Japanese design discussed in lot 184. The design of the crest carving is similar to an inlay pattern associated with the firms of Herter Brothers illustrated in Voorsanger, et al., Herter Brothers: Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age (New York, 1994) p. 219, illustrating cat. no 21. A related pair of chairs was sold Sotheby's New York, Victorian International, May 14 & 15, 1982, lot 498.
With their leaf-carved crest, these chairs also relate to the interest in Japanese design discussed in lot 184. The design of the crest carving is similar to an inlay pattern associated with the firms of Herter Brothers illustrated in Voorsanger, et al., Herter Brothers: Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age (New York, 1994) p. 219, illustrating cat. no 21. A related pair of chairs was sold Sotheby's New York, Victorian International, May 14 & 15, 1982, lot 498.