Renaissance Revival Cabinet

Renaissance Revival Cabinet

c. 1877
Artist
Gustave Herter, American, 1830-1898
Born: Stuttgart, Germany
Work Locations: New York, NY
Christian Herter, American, 1839-1883
Born: Stuttgart, Germany
Work Locations: New York, NY
Manufacturer
Herter Brothers
Work Locations: New York, NY
Active Years: 1864-1906
Locale
New York, NY
Country
United States
Style/Tradition
Renaissance Revival
Object
cabinet
Medium
Rosewood, wood inlay, gilt, ormolu (gilt bronze), and brass
Accession Number
1989.202
Credit Line
Funds from Bruce and Nancy Benson, Estelle R. Wolf, DAM Yankees, The Junior League of Denver, and in memory of Walton W. Wilson

Herter Brothers, Renaissance Revival Cabinet, about 1877. Rosewood, wood inlay, gilt, ormolu (gilt bronze), and brass; 85 × 84 1/2 × 23 1/4 in. Denver Art Museum: Funds from Bruce and Nancy Benson, Estelle R. Wolf, DAM Yankees, The Junior League of Denver, and in memory of Walton W. Wilson, 1989.202.

Dimensions
height: 85 in, 215.9000 cm; width: 84 1/2 in, 214.63 cm; depth: 23 1/4 in, 59.055 cm
Department
Architecture and Design
Collection
Architecture and Design
This object is currently on view

Herter Brothers, established by German-born brothers Gustave and Christian Herter, furnished the elaborate mansions of American industrialists during the Gilded Age and became one of the most prestigious furniture makers and interior decorating firms in the nation by the 1870s. The company was at the forefront of the Aesthetic Movement in the United States, in which designers combined a variety of historical and exotic styles while maintaining a sense of elegance and visual harmony.

This three-part Renaissance Revival cabinet was purchased in the 1870s by John Shillito, owner of Cincinnati’s foremost department store. For many of America’s wealthy entrepreneurs, whose fortunes were newly acquired, the Renaissance Revival style signaled affluence and authority. The style is characterized by an eclectic use of classical Greek and Roman motifs popular during the Italian Renaissance, including flowers, medallions, classical figures and statues, and architectural elements such as columns and pediments. In its abundance of carving and incising, its intricate multicolored marquetry, and its touches of gilding, this imposing cabinet is typical of Herter Brothers’ work of the mid- and late-1870s.

Known Provenance
Purchased circa 1877 by John Shillito [1809–1879], Cincinnati, probably from (Herter Brothers), New York. Purchased by Dr. Byron Bernard [1917–2006], Cincinnati, possibly from Mildred Trimble Shillito Maxwell [1886–1951], Cincinnati (granddaughter of John Shillito); purchased 1989 by (Wooden Nickel Architectural Antiques and Auctions), Cincinnati, from Dr. Byron Bernard; consigned 1989 to (Sotheby’s), New York, by (Wooden Nickel Architecture Antiques and Auctions), Cincinnati; purchased 3 March 1989 by (Margot Johnson), New York, at (Sotheby’s), New York (sale 5821 lot 295); purchased 13 November 1989 from (Margot Johnson), New York, by the Denver Art Museum.
Exhibition History
  • “By Design: Stories and Ideas Behind Objects” — Denver Art Museum, 10/24/2021 – 1/1/2024