Fine craftsmanship
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Richard and Gloria Manney John Henry Belter Rococo Revival Parlor
The Richard and Gloria Manney Rococo Revival Parlor is a showcase of the most original of American mid-nineteenth-century furniture designers.After perfecting a lamination process that permitted layers of wood to be bent and carved to a degree previously unachievable,the German born Belter proceeded to exploit it's design possibilities to the fullest.In the 1850s his highly ornamented sets required a nationwide reputation,and demand for them soon transformed his New York shop into a large factory.
The room's architectural elements-windows,columnar screens,doorway, cornice,and rosette-are from the double parlor of an Italian style villa in Astoria, Queens,in about 1852. The original double parlor had relatively small dimensions and no fireplaces-factors that made its reconstruction in this space inadvisable.Instead,it's beautifully detailed elements were used to create the parlor of a type illustrated in a designed for an Italianate villa published by Minard LaFever in The Architectural Instructor (New York,1856, plate LXIII).
Three objects in the room-one of the console tables,the fire screen,and the mantel mirror-have recently been acquired for the permanent collection,in time for the 75th Annual Celebration,after having been loans since the room opened in 1983. The console table is a rare match to the other one installed in this room;practically mirrored images,both tables are attributed to Belter and exhibit finely executed carvings of naturalistic fruits and flowers,as well as unusually pierced legs.The firescreen retains its original needlework panel.A rococo shell is the dominant motif in the carved and gilded oval mantel mirror.Oval-shaped mantel mirrors are rather unusual, and additionally,this is the only Rococo Revival mantel mirror in the Museum's collection.
Fine craftsmanship
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Richard and Gloria Manney John Henry Belter Rococo Revival Parlor
The Richard and Gloria Manney Rococo Revival Parlor is a showcase of the most original of American mid-nineteenth-century furniture designers.After perfecting a lamination process that permitted layers of wood to be bent and carved to a degree previously unachievable,the German born Belter proceeded to exploit it's design possibilities to the fullest.In the 1850s his highly ornamented sets required a nationwide reputation,and demand for them soon transformed his New York shop into a large factory.
The room's architectural elements-windows,columnar screens,doorway, cornice,and rosette-are from the double parlor of an Italian style villa in Astoria, Queens,in about 1852. The original double parlor had relatively small dimensions and no fireplaces-factors that made its reconstruction in this space inadvisable.Instead,it's beautifully detailed elements were used to create the parlor of a type illustrated in a designed for an Italianate villa published by Minard LaFever in The Architectural Instructor (New York,1856, plate LXIII).
Three objects in the room-one of the console tables,the fire screen,and the mantel mirror-have recently been acquired for the permanent collection,in time for the 75th Annual Celebration,after having been loans since the room opened in 1983. The console table is a rare match to the other one installed in this room;practically mirrored images,both tables are attributed to Belter and exhibit finely executed carvings of naturalistic fruits and flowers,as well as unusually pierced legs.The firescreen retains its original needlework panel.A rococo shell is the dominant motif in the carved and gilded oval mantel mirror.Oval-shaped mantel mirrors are rather unusual, and additionally,this is the only Rococo Revival mantel mirror in the Museum's collection.