Cabinet
Herter Brothers
ca. 1883 · Maple, with painted and gilded surface, bevelled glass, silk velvet, brass · The American Wing
This drawing-room cabinet exemplifies the ivory and gold palette Herter Brothers favored in drawing rooms designed for their wealthy clients, such as Oliver Ames, industrialist and governor of Massachusetts, for whom this piece was made. Typical of Herter Brothers, this cabinet suggests a sophisticated amalgam of sources. It employs decorative elements derived from eighteenth-century Neoclassicism, such as the reeded columns, dentil moldings, and carved swags, while also referencing the contemporary arts of Japan in its asymmetrical side shelves and in the gold-flecked surface inspired by lacquerware.
- Artist
- Herter Brothers
- Date
- ca. 1883
- Medium
- Maple, with painted and gilded surface, bevelled glass, silk velvet, brass
- Culture
- American
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Purchase, Robert L. and Ann R. Fromer Gift and Margot Johnson, Inc. Gift, in honor of the 75th anniversary of The American Wing, 1999
