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Cabinet

Wood cabinet with lighter wood floral design and brass.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Wood cabinet with lighter wood floral design and brass.

Date:

1878–80

Artist:

Herter Brothers (American, 1864–1906)
New York

About this artwork

The influence of Japanese artistic techniques and motifs abound in this cabinet, from the dazzling gold-field butterfly plaques set into the left and right cabinet doors, to the stylized floral inlays of the ebonized central compartment. Herter Brothers was one of the leading firms that designed furniture and interiors for the American upper class during the Aesthetic Movement, a cultural trend that emphasized beauty, particularly in the home. In the late 1870s, Herter Brothers began to incorporate such Japanese-derived elements in their designs, even as the furniture forms themselves derive from European and American precedents. It was common in the period to embrace eclectic motifs as long as they achieved a sense of visual harmony.

Status

On View, Gallery 273

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

Herter Brothers

Title

Cabinet

Place

New York City (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

c. 1878–1880

Medium

Rosewood with ebonized cherry, maple, walnut, satinwood, marquetry of various woods, brass, gilding, and paint

Inscriptions

Impressed twice on back boards: "HERTER BRO'S". Incribed on top boards, under velvet, in graphite: "N. 238 Store".

Dimensions

134.6 × 180.3 × 40.6 cm (53 × 71 × 16 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the Antiquarian Society through the Capital Campaign

Reference Number

1986.26

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/105105/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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