Étagère
Artist
Maker unknown
Date1840-1860
MediumRosewood, satinwood, yellow-poplar, black walnut, glass
DimensionsOverall: 70 5/8 × 41 3/4 × 21 3/4in. (179.4 × 106 × 55.2cm)
ClassificationsFURNISHINGS
Credit LineMuseum Purchase in part with funds from the the Mrs. Erving Pruyn Fund
Terms
Object number95.20
Descriptionprobably New YorkOn View
On viewCollections
Copyright<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/80x15.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License</a>.
Label TextPopularized by architect-designers Alexander Jackson Davis (1803-92) and Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-52), American-made Gothic furniture reached the pinnacle of its appeal in the mid-nineteenth century. While some entire domestic structures were designed in the Gothic style, the average consumer usually chose simply to add Gothic furniture or accessories to a single room, such as the library, hall, or dining room, to update the interior aesthetic.
This étagère combines Gothic tracery, trefoils, cusps, clustered columns, and naturalistic motifs of grape and grape leaves, acorns and oak leaves. The most outstanding-and perplexing-carved element on the étagère is the crest. In the center, projecting from a circular medallion outlined by a carved chain, a bearded man wearing a buttoned hat faces the viewer. The design source for the head has not yet been identified.
ATD
