Herter Brothers (American, 1865–1905). <em>Cabinet</em>, ca. 1872. Ebonized cherry, other woods, glass, brass, pigment, 42 3/8 x 66 x 16 3/4in. (107.6 x 167.6 x 42.5cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 76.63a-f. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 76.63a-f_top_bw_IMLS.jpg)

Herter Brothers (American, 1865–1905). Cabinet, ca. 1872. Ebonized cherry, other woods, glass, brass, pigment, 42 3/8 x 66 x 16 3/4in. (107.6 x 167.6 x 42.5cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 76.63a-f. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 76.63a-f_top_bw_IMLS.jpg)

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Why is this so expensive to make?

This cabinet is entirely handmade and includes not only unique painted panels, but extremely time-consuming inlay wood decoration to create the elaborate floral panels on the front doors. This cabinet is one-of-kind. The very rich Herter clients wanted furniture that was custom-made for them alone.

What a detailed piece of furniture!

This cabinet is one-of-a-kind and entirely handmade. The details you see come from wood inlay and hand painted panels. After the Civil War there was a shift in design and ornately carved furniture gave way to more delicate inlays and fine imported woods. Herter Brothers was one of the leading interior design and cabinetmaking firms in New York in the later nineteenth century, creating furnishings and interiors for wealthy clients such as J. P. Morgan, and William H. Vanderbilt.

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Cabinet

Decorative Arts and Design

Herter Brothers was the most prestigious decorating firm and furniture maker in the United States of its time. This cabinet was made for George B. Sloan, the richest man in Oswego, New York. Its form closely follows that of an example produced by the Lamb cabinetmaking firm in Manchester, England, of which Herter Brothers must have been aware. The large painted panels representing Spring and Autumn, and the smaller ones of Taurus and Leo, were probably executed by Christian Herter, a principal of the firm.

MAKER Herter Brothers, American, 1865–1905

MEDIUM Ebonized cherry, other woods, glass, brass, pigment

Place Made: New York, New York, United States

DATES ca. 1872

DIMENSIONS 42 3/8 x 66 x 16 3/4in. (107.6 x 167.6 x 42.5cm) (show scale)

MARKINGS Stamped on back: "HERTER BRO'S."; inscribed in pencil on back in script: "N67 Slone Esq. Oswego"

SIGNATURE no signature

INSCRIPTIONS no inscriptions

COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts and Design

ACCESSION NUMBER 76.63a-f

CREDIT LINE H. Randolph Lever Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Cabinet, ebonized cherry, painted and inlaid decoration, glass doors, incised and gilt decoration. Sunken center section has single glazed door with gilt and ebonized frame. Square and linear gilt and inlay decoration across the top of door, turned railing across bottom of door. Backsplash on back of top of center section inlaid with stylized daisy and branch. Front side sections each have inset panel with gilt border and painted with female figures, proper right facing left, proper left facing right. Above each panel are inlaid daisy and leaf motifs and beneath a flowerpot with daisies and leaves inlaid. Bottom of each door is shaped in suspended semi-circle. Inset horizontal metal plate above each side door flanked with inlaid daisies. Proper right panel painted with figure of bull with leaves and stars and gilt background. Proper left panel painted with figure of lion with stars, leaves and gilt background. Brass cut-out railing runs across back of top and on either side of top flanking sections. Eight turned wooden feet, ebonized, incised and gilt. Sub-lettered: (a) Cabinet; (b) Center shelf; (c) Shelf, proper left; (d) Shelf, proper right; (e) Key, brass; (f) Key, brass (e and f keys fit both side and central doors.) Condition: White paint drip on female figure on proper right side. Some paint loss on lion and bull. Various nicks and scratches (minor) throughout; finish worn and faded on top. Back proper left leg broken off and repaired.

EXHIBITIONS

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Herter Brothers (American, 1865–1905). Cabinet, ca. 1872. Ebonized cherry, other woods, glass, brass, pigment, 42 3/8 x 66 x 16 3/4in. (107.6 x 167.6 x 42.5cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 76.63a-f. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 76.63a-f_top_bw_IMLS.jpg)

IMAGE top, 76.63a-f_top_bw_IMLS.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Why is this so expensive to make?

What a detailed piece of furniture!

Tell me more.