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Lot Essay
This remarkable Gothic Revival hall stand is among the most elaborate known to have survived. While elements of its design recall a number of cabinetmaking firms, its overall form and presentation does not correspond directly to a known body of related work. A signed desk and bookcase by the New York firm of Meeks exhibits related strapwork roundels, as does a settee attributed to the Brooklyn cabinetmaker Thomas Brooks (see Tracy, 19th Century America (New York, 1970), cat. no. 100, and Howe and Warren, The Gothic Revival Style in America: 1830-1870, cat. no. 56). A pair of bookcases made in Baltimore also exhibits the cluster columns, tall carved finials and roundels seen on this hall stand (see Weidman, Furniture in Maryland 1740-1940 (Baltimore, 1984), cat. no. 228).
This hall stand probably traveled to Canada in the late 19th century, where it has remained until this time. By tradition, it was one of a number of elaborate Gothic Revival furnishings in General Charles Lane Fitzhugh's summer house, Ravensworth, in Cobourg, Canada (built c. 1897). Fitzhugh had married a wealthy steel family heiress Emma Schoenberger, of Pittsburgh, and hired a Cincinnati architectural firm to design Ravensworth as well as another summer house in Cobourg.
Microanalysis indicates the secondary woods of this hall stand are pinus of the white pine group.
This hall stand probably traveled to Canada in the late 19th century, where it has remained until this time. By tradition, it was one of a number of elaborate Gothic Revival furnishings in General Charles Lane Fitzhugh's summer house, Ravensworth, in Cobourg, Canada (built c. 1897). Fitzhugh had married a wealthy steel family heiress Emma Schoenberger, of Pittsburgh, and hired a Cincinnati architectural firm to design Ravensworth as well as another summer house in Cobourg.
Microanalysis indicates the secondary woods of this hall stand are pinus of the white pine group.