Other Photographs

Description

This series consists of two portfolios and six albums containing 235 loose and 518 mounted photographs. Images in all but three of the albums depict furnishings made by A. H. Davenport Co., Irving and Casson, and their successor Irving and Casson - A. H. Davenport Co. The order number and year are often shown on a display in the photographs; model numbers are also present in some cases. Customer names are handwritten on some album pages. Listing of identified customer are included in the record for portfolio or album. Digital images of a selection of these photographs are attached to the related portfolio or album record.

The three remaining albums contain photographs of furniture owned by three prominent collectors of American and European decorative arts -- Richard A. Canfield (1855-1914), Charles Leonard Pendleton (1846-1904), and Marsden Jasiel Perry (1850-1935). A numerical code indicating ownership is handwritten next to some photographs while other photographs have no identifying information. Codes used are: C = Canfield, P' = Pendleton, and P = Perry. Some photographs show the furniture in situ at the homes of the collectors including the John Brown House (Providence, RI) which was owned by M. J. Perry from 1901 until his death in 1935 and the Edward Dexter House (Providence, RI) owned by C. L. Pendleton as well as Pendleton's New York City apartment. Other photos provide large details of the pieces depicted such as carved knees and finials. It is not known when or who took the photographs or for what reason. Some of the photographs of room interiors were reproduced in "American Furniture in Pendleton House" (Michie and Monkhouse 1986, 14-23). A large portion of Pendleton's collection was bequeathed to the Rhode Island School of Design which erected "Pendleton House" for its display.