Hi all, I recently found (and bought) a set of 6 dining chairs with handwritten ink on paper labels glued to the inside rear seat rails on 3 or 4 of them. Potter & Denison were decorators/manufacturers in Providence, Rhode Island, along the lines of Herter Brothers in NYC, but smaller of course. The form of the chairs is a reinterpretation of the Grecian chair so popular 40 or 50 years earlier, with incised decoration and ebonized carving. Simple, but quite sophisticated. One chair actually retains much of its original green leather upholstery; the back is in good shape, but the seat is pretty torn up.
Elizabeth Cogswell wrote an extensive article on Potter & Denison in the winter 1982 volume of Winterthur Portfolio that focuses on the the Henry Lippett House in Providence. P & D decorated the whole house and supplied the furniture--it is incredible. Apparently it is a house museum that one can visit, but I have not been there.
Anyway, I would like to sell the chairs, so thought I would post here. I can't figure out how to attach an image (don't have a website). Thoughts, comments, interest? Maybe someone can tell me how to post an image. Obviously, I am a newbie here, and not sure how this site works exactly.
Thanks, Clark
Set of 6 chairs labeled by Potter & Denison
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Victorian Furniture thread on victorianforum.com · started September 17, 2008 by clark.pearce · 5 posts, 5 image attachments · discussion in 2008.
Hi all, I recently found (and bought) a set of 6 dining chairs with handwritten ink on paper labels glued to the inside rear seat rails on 3 or 4 of them. Potter & Denison were decorators/manufacturers in Providence, Rhode Island, along the lines of Herter Brothers in NYC,…
pictures can't be > 500k in size. Send them to [email removed] and I'll post them...
Henry Lippett House images here.
Quote from: clark.pearce
Elizabeth Cogswell wrote an extensive article on Potter & Denison in the winter 1982 volume of Winterthur Portfolio that focuses on the the Henry Lippett House in Providence. P & D decorated the whole house and supplied the furniture--it is incredible. Apparently it is a house museum that one can visit, but I have not been there.
While Anthony, Potter and Denison supplied most of the furniture, the drawing room furniture was purchased from Pottier and Stymus, and is, according to Cogswell, "the only known suite of this period" by the firm. A cabinet from the drawing room suite is Figure 49 in Herter Brothers; Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age. (Those of you familiar with said cabinet will be interested to know that the price tag in 1864 was $325.)
Looking forward to photos of your chairs.....
Photos attached.
