Herter Brothers
Subtitle: furniture and interiors for a gilded age
By: Katherine S. Howe ... [ et. al.].
Contributors: Howe, Katherine S.; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.; High Museum of Art.; Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams in association with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 272
Subjects: Herter Brothers (New York, N.Y.) -- Exhibitions; Furniture -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Exhibitions; Interior decoration -- United States -- History -- 19th century -- Exhibitions
Description: In 1848, Gustave Herter arrived in America from Germany, fleeing political and economic chaos. His brother, Christian, joined him a decade later. By 1875 their firm, renamed Herter Brothers, was supplying the White House with furnishings, as it had been doing for some of America's wealthiest families since 1858. During this opulent period, Herter Brothers could claim to be the leading cabinetmaking and decorating firm in the country.

The Herter brothers' extraordinary accomplishment has never before been the subject of a book. Here, at last, is an in-depth study of these talented men, their company, and its work, prized then as now for its design, richness of materials and detail, superb craftsmanship, and splendid diversity.

The best of the Herter Brothers' furniture and interiors are displayed in 133 color and 167 black-and-white illustrations, including many close-up details as well as comparative work by rival fine cabinetmakers of the time in New York and Europe.

Herter Brothers tells the story of the company from its earliest manifestations, when Gustave worked with other partners and alone, through his partnership with his brother, to Christian's years as head of the firm and the end of his tenure.

The book places the company firmly in its context, international as well as domestic, with an extensive discussion of the brothers' background and influences and an absorbing narrative of the furniture and decoration trade in New York City in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Also described is the superb work done by the firm for their fabulously wealthy patrons - a who's who of the Gilded Age, including J. Pierpont Morgan, William H. Vanderbilt, and Jay Gould - for whom the Herters created some of their most lavish furniture and complete interiors.

These commissions, many illustrated here, included woodwork, plasterwork, lighting fixtures, window treatments, wall and ceiling paintings, carpets, textiles, mosaics, stained glass, and decorative objects in addition to furniture.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 260-262) and index.
"Published on the occasion of the exhibition ... organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with the High Museum of Art, Atlanta."--T.p. verso
Exhibition held at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 21-October 23, 1994 ; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, December 13, 1994-February 12, 1995 ; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, March 15-July 9, 1995.
Table of contents: title: A European context, 1840-80 : England / Simon Jervis. Germany / Hans Ottomeyer. France / Marc Bascou; title: An introduction to the Herter Brothers / Katherine S. Howe; title: From the Bowery to Broadway : the Herter Brothers and the New York furniture trade / Catherine Hoover Voorsanger; title: Patronage and the artistic interior / Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen; title: Herter Brothers furniture / Alice Cooney Frelinghuysen, Katherine S. Howe, Catherine Hoover Voorsanger.