Lot 16

A view of the Brydcliffe showroom. The Byrdcliffe Colony, established in Woodstock, New York, in 1902 by Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead and his wife Jane, was founded on the principals of the English Arts & Crafts movement. For a brief period of time, the Colony was successful in bringing together artists and craftsmen who created paintings, pottery, metalwork and furniture in an atmosphere of enlightenment, living and working close to nature. The woodworking shops began operating in 1903 and produced no more than 50 pieces before closing in 1905. The present cabinet is an outstanding example of Byrdcliffe furniture, exhibiting the simple form, stylized carved floral panels and multicolored stains for which the furniture is admired. This cabinet was designed by the artist Edna Walker, and is sold with two of her drawings, one for the cabinet form and another for the beautiful decorative panel of flowering Tulip Poplar.

A RARE AND IMPORTANT CARVED AND STAINED OAK CABINET

DESIGNED BY EDNA WALKER FOR THE BYRDCLIFFE ARTS & CRAFTS COLONY, 1904

Details

A RARE AND IMPORTANT CARVED AND STAINED OAK CABINET
Designed by Edna Walker for The Byrdcliffe Arts & Crafts Colony, 1904
the doors carved with a tulip poplar motif; together with two original drawings relating to the cabinet
72¾in. (184.8cm.) high, 54 5/8in. (138.8cm.) wide, 24 7/8in. (63.2cm.) deep
branded with the firm's octagonal mark BYRDCLIFFE 1904 (3)

Provenance

Mr. and Mrs. Mark Willcox
Robert Edwards

Literature

The Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony: Life by Design, (exhibition catalogue) Delaware Art Museum, 1984, p. 23; Nancy E. Green and Jessie Poesch, Arthur Wesley Dow and American Arts & Crafts, 1999, p. 183 for illustrations of this cabinet.

This cabinet will be included in the forthcoming Byrdcliffe catalogue to be published by Cornell's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Exhibited

Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware Art Museum, The Byrdcliffe Arts & Crafts Colony: Life by Design, November 9, 1984-January 6, 1985. This exhibit traveled to Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, The Edith C. Blum Art Institute, Bard College, January 15-March 31, 1985.
Stanford, California, The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Arthur Wesley Dow and American Arts & Crafts, July 13-September 19, 1999. This exhibit traveled to Chicago, Illinois, Terra Museum of American Art, October 8, 1999-January 2, 2000 and to Fort Dodge, Iowa, Blanden Memorial Art Museum, July 7-October 1, 2000.

Sale room notice

Please note that the provenance should read: Robert Edwards as agent for Mr. and Mrs. Mark Willcox to the present owner.

This cabinet will be included in the forthcoming Byrdcliffe catalogue to be published by Cornell's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Please note that the present cabinet was illustrated in the catalogue The Byrdcliffe Arts & Crafts Colony, Life by Design, as noted, but was not shown at the venues cited.

Lot Essay

cf. Nancy E. Green, Frederick C. Moffatt, et al., Arthur Wesley Dow: His Art And His Influence, 1999, pl. 110 for an illustration of the model from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Mark Willcox, the only other known example of this model.

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