J. Ziegler & Co were established in 1849, and remained in business until 1878. The firm offered "a large stock of plain and artistically rich furniture, all of their own manufacture..." and were also decorators.
It is notable that from 1865 to 1870, William Baumgarten was employed by Ziegler "(assisting) in making the designs and in the general management of the business." Baumgarten left the J. Ziegler and Co to become Christian Herter's assistant at, and eventually the head of Herter Brothers, before starting the firm of William Baumgarten and Co. in 1891.
Some cursory info regarding Baumgarten and his employment at Ziegler and Co. can be found on page 229 of
Herter Brothers: Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age; a more detailed account appears in
The National cyclopaedia of American biography [1901].
I find one additional mention of J. Ziegler & Co. in
Scientific American, October 28 1865; the article is titled "The Fair of the American Institute," and begins
Although the Exhibition has closed, some objects which have escaped notice hitherto, are worthy of mention.
It then goes on to describe various unsung marvels such as "A Novel Vise," "Morse's Twist Drills," "Tremper's "Chronometer" Governor," and
The Magic Table
This is a curious piece of furniture. To the eye it is a common black-walnut extension table, but by taking hold of one end it can be lifted up, when it is immediately transformed into a sideboard or a set of shelves, and finally folds up into a small compass, so that it looks like a wardrobe. J. Ziegler & Co., of No. 42 Bleecker steet.
The article is sadly not illustrated...
