Art Institute of Chicago

Table

Herter Brothers

Date

c. 1878

Medium

Ebonized maple and various inlaid woods

Culture

New York City

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

Herter Brothers was one of the leading firms that designed furniture and interiors for the American upper class during the Aesthetic movement. In the late 1870s, the firm began to experiment with Japanese-influenced elements in their designs, reflecting the great fascination with that country—known as Japanism—prevalent in American culture at the time. The ebonized surfaces of this table emulate Japanese lacquerware, while the floral ornamentation is drawn from Japanese lacquerware, paintings, prints, and textiles. However, the overall forms are Western and include elements derived from other cultures, such as the cabinet’s (1986.26) Egyptian Revival paw feet. Aesthetic-movement designers such as Herter Brothers readily combined such eclectic motifs as long as they could still achieve a sense of visual harmony.

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