Many of you may already be aware that I have set up a special page on Rare Victorian to make original furniture manufacturer catalogs from the 19th century available for Rare Victorian readers to view. I own several period catalogs and I’ve been scanning them over time and making them accessible on the catalog page. I have been very aware that the mechanism that I have used to make them viewable was cumbersome and in some cases unusable, but I had previously not been able to locate a suitable technology to replace Adobe’s service. Until now.
I have now redesigned the page to use a new, easier-to-use mechanism for you to browse the pages of my scanned catalogs. No more accounts or sign-ups and complicated security hoops to jump through.
To celebrate I have a new catalog available from Philadelphia manufacturers James W. Cooper & Brother titled “Sketches of Art Furniture” from the 1880s. I expect this catalog to be of great interest to those that follow the designs of Daniel Pabst, Isaac Scott, Allen & Brother and especially Kimbel & Cabus. I also predict that several of these images will be useful to re-attribute some pieces that would have been labeled “Kimbel & Cabus” going forward.
This one is well worth the perusal, so please stop by the new catalog page and try out the new viewer.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Big improvement on the catalog viewer John – 2 thumbs up. Nice clear pictures, many options to view it – excellent choice. Nice catalog too – I agree, many of the design sure do like a lot like K&C furniture. woodwright
Thanks, Woodwright. Glad it does the trick.
Hey John,
I just could not make the old way work for me. Perhaps it’s because I have a Mac? In any event this new viewer is fantastic, it works just beautiful. The Cooper catalog is a wonderful glimpse into the past and especially for Philadelphia furniture. I know i have seen some of these pieces in the years I have been looking at furniture. Please post more catalogs if possible, this is great stuff!
Saw this desk at Red Bank antiques today and snapped a pic. It looks very close to #62 A Ladies writing desk in the Cooper catalog.
http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j285/zekenstein/IMG_1926.jpg