Reference library
Biographical reference pages for Victorian furniture makers, workshops, styles, and decorative arts rebuilt from the RareVictorian archive.
Rebuilt from the old maker sites
These pages preserve the old RareVictorian maker-domain material under current reference URLs, with legacy internal links rewritten to the rebooted archive where possible.
Makers and workshops
(1836-1909)
Charles Locke Eastlake was born on March 11th, 1836 and was named after his uncle, Sir Charles Lock Easlake (who did not have the "e" in Locke). This artistic uncle probably...
FurnitureEastlakeAestheticHerter BrothersVictorian
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(1839-1883)
Their father Christian was referred to as an "ebeniste", meaning cabinetmaker. The term would have been derived from the fact that in the mid-17th century France an ebeniste...
Herter BrothersVictorianFurnitureAestheticRevival
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(1835-1898)
George grew up in Tuttlingen in the province of Wurttemberg, Germany and emigrated to America in 1855. Sometimes mentioned as George "Jacob" Hunzinger, his middle name is...
George HunzingerHunzingerVictorianFurnitureChair
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RareVictorian reference
It's a bit of hyperbole, but were it not for the marriage of The Herter Brothers' mother to Christian Herter (1807-1874), the brothers may have been known as the "Hagenlocher...
Herter BrothersVictorianFurnitureAestheticRevival
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RareVictorian reference
Over the years, the Meeks' companies produced furniture for the middle class up to the aristocracy in the Empire, Gothic, and Rococo Revival forms. The most notable pieces in...
MeeksVictorianFurnitureRococoHawkins
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(1813-1898)
Alexander Roux was born in France and emigrated to New York, listing the establishment of his company as 1836, though first appearing in New York directories in 1837. He advertised...
Alexander RouxVictorianFurnitureAuctionRococo
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(1804-1863)
John Henry Belter was born in 1804 and grew up in Hannover, Germany. He emigrated alone from Bremen, Germany to New York in 1833 at the age of 29 and became a citizen in 1839. John...
John Henry BelterFurnitureVictorianAuctionRococo
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(1813-1893)
John Jelliff was born in Norwalk, Connecticut July 30, 1813. He was the fourth of eight children in his family. His father was Hezekiah Jelliff, a poor farmer of Huguenot descent...
John JelliffVictorianFurnitureJenny LindRenaissance Revival
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(1830-1898)
It's a bit of hyperbole, but were it not for the marriage of The Herter Brothers' mother to Christian Herter (1807-1874), the brothers may have been known as the "Hagenlocher...
Gustave HerterHerter BrothersVictorianFurnitureAesthetic
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RareVictorian reference
Pottier & Stymus was one of the top cabinetmaking firms in the last third of the 19th century and they produced furniture in the Neo-Grec, Renaissance Revival, Egyptian Revival,...
Pottier & StymusPottierStymusFurnitureBuy
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RareVictorian reference
Robert J. Horner was working in New York as a clerk in the lace business of Mills and Gibb when in 1886 he decided to establish R.J. Horner & Co. on East 23rd Street. You will...
VictorianFurnitureGriffinTableParlor
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1860-1890
Renaissance Revival reverses the feminine elegance of Rococo around the time of the Civil War and gained mainstream popularity during the 1870s. Renaissance Revival design espoused...
Renaissance RevivalAntiquesVictorianFurnitureSale
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RareVictorian reference
The creation of what is recognized as the modern piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy somewhere around the turn of the century, 1698-1700. He solved the...
AntiqueBuyShop
Read reference1893-1977
Earl was born in Edgecomb, Maine and had always been attracted by the sea. He left home at the age of 13 becoming an itinerant tinsmith, whose profession was the mending of...
Folk ArtBuySale
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RareVictorian reference
Epergne , although appearing to be a French word is actually English. A similar French word is "epargne", which means "a saving". According to the book, "The Elegant Epergne": The...
AntiqueVictorian
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RareVictorian reference
Louis Comfort Tiffany had a great appreciation for the coloration of medieval and simultaneously felt that contemporary glass could be improved upon. The impurities and...
LampTableBuyShopSale
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