Center table
Gustave Herter
ca. 1860 · Rosewood, rosewood veneer, maple, burled wood, ash (secondary wood), brass, and scagliola · The American Wing
German-born and trained Gustave Herter produced this extraordinary center table around the time he established his own furniture and decorating firm at 547 Broadway. The robustly carved figural legs and bold, curvaceous form reflect Herter’s European training and sensibilities. The table’s delicate marquetry top, which may have been imported from Paris, speaks to the prevailing taste for French style among American patrons. Simultaneously, the four enigmatic and exoticized Native American female forms with gilded turtle breastplates suggest a desire to explore and formulate a national iconography.
- Artist
- Gustave Herter
- Date
- ca. 1860
- Medium
- Rosewood, rosewood veneer, maple, burled wood, ash (secondary wood), brass, and scagliola
- Culture
- American
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Sansbury-Mills Fund, 2017
