Top Half of Chimney Breast
Object Label
In 1882 John Sloane, a partner in the New York furniture retailer W. & J. Sloane, paid Herter Brothers $16,075 for the decoration of his Fifth Avenue mansion. The library’s woodwork and furniture, and much of its contents—paintings and objects—are preserved in the Museum. This mantel is rendered in the Jacobean Revival style, inspired by the arts of sixteenth-century England. Herter Brothers not only made the woodwork and furniture, but also supplied other decorative elements, including the elaborate curtains, objects, and imported French fireplace accoutrements such as the brass sconces, clock garniture, and fire screen.
Caption
Unknown Maker. Top Half of Chimney Breast, ca. 1881. Mahogany, mirrored glass, Overall mantel (41.980.72a-e): 129 x 100 1/4 x 12 5/16 in. (327.7 x 254.6 x 31.3 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. William E. S. Griswold in memory of her father, John Sloane, 41.980.72b. Creative Commons-BY
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Maker
Retailer
Title
Top Half of Chimney Breast
Date
ca. 1881
Geography
Place made: New York, New York, United States
Medium
Mahogany, mirrored glass
Classification
Dimensions
Overall mantel (41.980.72a-e): 129 x 100 1/4 x 12 5/16 in. (327.7 x 254.6 x 31.3 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. William E. S. Griswold in memory of her father, John Sloane
Accession Number
41.980.72b
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
Can you tell me a little about this clock and this fireplace?
Sure! This fireplace and its accoutrements were designed and installed by the design firm of the Herter Brothers for John Sloane who was a partner at W & J Sloane, a New York furniture company. The fireplace is designed in the Jacobean Revival style, influenced by 16th-century English furniture and design. It's massive, and yet finely detailed.The clock itself was not designed by the Herter brothers, but actually imported from France.Why doesn't the base of the wood column meet the mantle on this piece?
This mantel is a fragment of a period room in storage and so was never meant to be an independent object.Do you have any thoughts as to why they might not touch?We thought that there might be a missing piece of decorative molding?That's a pretty good theory.Is there anything about the style or form that looks incomplete to you? Like something might be missing?Yes, the entire length of the mantle had a large gap between the base of the top pieceI see. Yes. I think that's because the entire work was acquired directly from the owner's house. So it was disassembled there and reassembled here...I suppose it's possible it used to fit together more tightly, but I couldn't say.What drew you to the fireplace in particular?I love Herter Brothers so I was immediately drawn to it. I also noticed holes in the marble of the fireplaceWhat can you tell me about this?
This fireplace surround was once part of an elaborately decorated library in a mansion on Fifth Avenue (near the Metropolitan Museum of Art today). The room was designed by the Herter Brothers, who were one of the leading interior design and cabinetmaking firms in New York. Many of their clients were so-called "robber barons" -- self-made Americans with vast personal fortunes who wished to furnish their new luxurious homes in a style that looked historic. This fireplace is in the Jacobean Revival style; the finely carved woodwork resembles architecture and furniture from 17th-century England.Can you tell me more about all of this?
This fireplace and its various parts were designed and installed by the firm of the Herter Brothers for John Sloane, who was a partner at W. & J. Sloane, a NY furniture company. The fireplace is designed in the Jacobean Revival Style, influenced by 16th century English furniture and design. The Jacobean style was noted for its 3-dimensional fullness of the design, which I think comes across with this sturdy mahogany fireplac
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at
