id: 160089 accession number: 1997.58 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1997.58 updated: 2019-04-22 13:02:31.794000 Fire Screen, c. 1878-80. Firm of Herter Brothers (American). Gilded wood, painted and gilded wood panels, brocaded silk, embossed paper; overall: 131.8 x 76.2 x 58.3 cm (51 7/8 x 30 x 22 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 1997.58 title: Fire Screen title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1878-80 creation date earliest: 1878 creation date latest: 1880 current location: creditline: The Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund copyright: --- culture: America, 19th century technique: gilded wood, painted and gilded wood panels, brocaded silk, embossed paper department: Decorative Art and Design collection: Furniture type: Furniture and woodwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Herter Brothers (American) - artist Christian Herter (1840-83). Born in Stuttgart. He studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris before joining his elder half-brother Gustav (1930-98) in New York in 1860. Gustav had been there since 1848 and had worked for Tiffany before founding his own furniture and decorations firm in 1957. In 1864 Christian returned to Paris to study under Pierre-Victor Gallard (1822-92) and in the early 1870s he was in England. Herter Brothers became a leading New York furniture and decorating business in the 1870s and 1880s, being one of the first to abandon the usual run of historical styles and produce pieces rather similar to those made contemporaneously in England, with a discreet use of oriental motifs. Marquetry furniture like that made for the railroad magnate Jay Gould in 1877-82 or the luxurious gilt and inlaid furniture made for the William H. Vanderbuilt House, NY, c. 1882 is typical of the more extravanant type of aesthetic movement in the US. He employed a large staff of craftsmen and designers, the latter including the architect Charles B. Atwood (1849-95). The firm survived until 1906. --- measurements: Overall: 131.8 x 76.2 x 58.3 cm (51 7/8 x 30 x 22 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: This elaborate screen is drenched in decoration, including wood that is carved and gilded as well as imported Japanese paper that is embossed and delicately painted. Produced by the New York decorating firm Herter Brothers, this screen would have been used to shield women from the heat of a fireplace. digital description: wall description: During the 1870s the New York firm of Herter Brothers produced some of the most sophisticated and technically refined furniture made anywhere in the world at that date. Although the firm is known to have made a considerable quantity of gilded furniture, this Fire Screen is one of only a few examples to survive in good condition. The most striking aspect of this piece is the painted and gilded embossed panel of birds and flowers which was almost certainly made in Japan. The design of the screen as a whole seems to have been predicated on the use of this decoration. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.58/1997.58_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.58/1997.58_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1997.58/1997.58_full.tif