Table
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Caption
American. Table, ca 1885. Horn, wood, silk velvet, 30 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (77.5 x 44.5 x 36.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, H. Randolph Lever Fund, 83.26. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 83.26_bw.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Table
Date
ca 1885
Geography
Place manufactured: United States
Medium
Horn, wood, silk velvet
Classification
Dimensions
30 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 14 1/2 in. (77.5 x 44.5 x 36.8 cm)
Signatures
no signature
Inscriptions
no inscriptions
Markings
no marks
Credit Line
H. Randolph Lever Fund
Accession Number
83.26
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
You're looking at a table from 1885 made of bull horns. In 1881, such furniture became quite the rage, and was primarily manufactured where ranching was prevalent. By the 1890's the novelty had wore off and furnishings with bull horns ceased to be popular.
Interesting. How'd they get so many horns?Horns are a natural byproduct of the cattle industry, as they are inedible. It was a design motif that arose from an abundance of an unused material that was given to furniture companies that sprouted up near large slaughterhouses in Chicago and Texas.Is this made of real horns?
Yes, those are real bull horns. There are forty-two in total. Furniture such as this was very popular in the 1880s/1890s, but interest faded pretty quickly.It looks very rustic.Definitely, what sort of person do you think would want furniture such as this in their house?I imagine a cowboy. It doesn't look as fancy as the other furniture around it.Great eye! This furniture was made with by-product materials not used by slaughter houses and was more popular in the mid-West and Texas, for example, than in urban New York City. On one hand, it utilizes a part of the animal that otherwise might not be, but interest in the style remained limited throughout the United States.How many horns are in this table?
There are 42 bull horns in this table. The base is formed by 12 horns!Tell me more.
These pieces of furniture were remarkable for being made from new and unusual materials. The armchair is made from cast iron, an innovative material for furniture in the early 20th century that allowed for ornate and open designs. Plants and nature were a common inspiration in the Art Nouveau movement. Behind it, there is a table made from 42 bull horns!
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