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Lot Essay
Like the No-Grec sideboard illustrated in lot 90, the tag illustrated here embodies the eclectic aesthetic fashionable on both sides of the North Atlantic rim in the late 19th century.
The appearance of this etagere implies its function as an altar to Victorian material accumulation and display (see Ames, et al., Accumulation and Display: Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (Winterthur, Delaware, 1986), esp. pp.68-69). The design of this object is not only a concentrated collection of classical and oriental references, but the purpose of the object is predicated on the acquisition of material goods; their appropriate, full display is facilitated by the mirrored back of the tag.
Double branded at back "Herts Brothers 806 & 808 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y.," this etagere was made by one of the better known New York City manufacturers of ready-made furnishings. It is related conceptually to the furniture designs of British furniture designer E.W. Godwin, and in aesthetic style to an etagere illustrated and discussed in Johnson, et al. 19th Century America: Furniture and Other Decorative Arts (New York, 1970) fig.224 made by Charles Tisch. A small trade card published by Herts Brothers advertising their wares is in the Winterthur Library: Rare Book and Manuscript Collection. The firm was active in New York City between 1872 and 1937 predominantly producing furniture in the Aesthetic Movement style (see Ketchum, American Cabinetmakers: Marked American Furniture, 1640-1940 (New York, 1995) p.163).
The appearance of this etagere implies its function as an altar to Victorian material accumulation and display (see Ames, et al., Accumulation and Display: Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (Winterthur, Delaware, 1986), esp. pp.68-69). The design of this object is not only a concentrated collection of classical and oriental references, but the purpose of the object is predicated on the acquisition of material goods; their appropriate, full display is facilitated by the mirrored back of the tag.
Double branded at back "Herts Brothers 806 & 808 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y.," this etagere was made by one of the better known New York City manufacturers of ready-made furnishings. It is related conceptually to the furniture designs of British furniture designer E.W. Godwin, and in aesthetic style to an etagere illustrated and discussed in Johnson, et al. 19th Century America: Furniture and Other Decorative Arts (New York, 1970) fig.224 made by Charles Tisch. A small trade card published by Herts Brothers advertising their wares is in the Winterthur Library: Rare Book and Manuscript Collection. The firm was active in New York City between 1872 and 1937 predominantly producing furniture in the Aesthetic Movement style (see Ketchum, American Cabinetmakers: Marked American Furniture, 1640-1940 (New York, 1995) p.163).