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Desk

A work made of maple and bird's-eye maple.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of maple and bird's-eye maple.

Date:

c. 1890

Artist:

Attributed to R. J. Horner and Company (American, active 1886–c. 1915)
New York

About this artwork

Imported into the United States as early as the 1860s, East Asian bamboo furniture inspired the manufacture of Western forms such as this faux-bamboo desk and matching chair (2003.11), which clearly reference Chinese and Japanese materials, motifs, and styles. Bamboo wares reached the height of their popularity after the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where Japan’s display of bamboo furniture garnered much public attention. As the Aesthetic movement intensified the demand for Asian-inspired decorative arts and interiors, American manufacturers began using local materials to produce faux-bamboo furniture in an attempt to compete with foreign imports. Firms such as R. J. Horner and Company advertised suites of faux-bamboo furniture such as this one as most appropriate for the dining rooms and bedrooms of country houses.

Status

On View, Gallery 273

Department

Arts of the Americas

Artist

R. J. Horner and Company (Manufacturer)

Title

Desk

Place

New York (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. 1890

Medium

Maple and bird's-eye maple

Dimensions

174.6 × 46.4 × 67.3 cm (68 3/4 × 17 1/2 × 26 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Quinn E. Delaney fund

Reference Number

2003.10

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/180489/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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