Charles Rohlfs

Private Collection, Ohio, circa 1901
Thence by descent

Lola J. Diffen, ''Artistic Designing of House Furniture – A Visit to Charles Rohlfs Designer – His Shop and His Work,'' Buffalo Courier, April 22, 1900, n. p. (for a period photograph of the model) 
David A. Hanks, et al., High Styles:  Twentieth-Century American Design, New York, 1985, p. 20 
Leslie Greene Bowman, American Arts & Crafts:  Virtue in Design, Los Angeles, 1990, p. 60, cat. no. 27 (for an example of the model in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) 
Michael L. James, Drama in Design:  The Life and Craft of Charles Rohlfs, Buffalo, 1994, p. 39
Joseph Cunningham, The Artistic Furniture of Charles Rohlfs, New Haven, CT, 2008, p. 121 (for an example of the model in the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum)
David Cathers and Susan Montgomery, So Various Are The Forms It Assumes:  American Arts & Crafts Furniture from the Two Red Roses Foundation, Clearwater, FL, 2013, pp. 210-211

Overall in very good original condition. This rare chair, along with the Rohlfs coal hod, also offered in this auction (lot 65), originated together from the period and have descended in the family of the original owner until recently. The oak surfaces throughout appear to retain their original rich dark finish, which have been sensitively waxed. The oak surfaces with some occasional minor surface scratches, abrasions, and edge wear with some associated edge losses (most prevalent to the feet and front edge of the seat) consistent with age and gentle use. The lower edge of the front stretcher with one very minor sliver loss that is not visible once the chair is righted. Two of the pegs to the left edge of the proper left leg have been sensitively replaced by a leading professional conservator. This chair displays beautifully in person with strong sculptural presence and highly artistic, thoughtful detailing to each element of the form. A superb example of Rohlfs' accomplished fretted decoration. -----
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The poetic strength of this model is predicated on the notion of balance and honesty in construction that was hugely part of Charles Rohlfs’ design philosophy and approach to works in furniture, especially in his alignment with precedents in the British Arts and Crafts movement and design reformers like John Ruskin and William Morris.

The proportional structure and expert craftsmanship of this oak ladder back chair hark back to the medievalist philosophy of A.W.N. Pugin in the wake of industrialization in nineteenth-century Britain, notably in an engagement with Gothic Revival as a reaction to an increase in mechanized modes of mass production.  The present chair adopts a keen sense of aesthetic minimalism most often associated with avant-garde Modernism of a later decade when it is viewed without the intended leather seat and back cushions that Rohlfs originally designed for the model.  Here, the stark sensibility of skeletal construction is emphasized by the four exposed crossbar supports of the backrest, further accentuated in the hexagonally carved elements that support the legs and crown the top of each stile.  The formal language of the fretted semi-circular panels supporting the underside of the seat provide a rhythm of movement that is echoed in the horizontality of the oak construction in the backrest, notably engaging with design philosophies of the day that sought to eschew applied decoration in favor of independently evocative forms.

This rare offering remains one of only a few examples known of this rare model, including examples in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and Two Red Roses Foundation.  Another example of this model was sold in these rooms from the Collection of David Whitney, with reputed provenance from Darwin D. Martin, senior executive of the Larkin Company in Buffalo, New York, where Rohlfs also kept his home and studio. See Sotheby’s New York, An American Visionary:  The Collection of David Whitney, November 16, 2006, lot 118.