Scrapbook -- Chair Designs

Description

Untitled scrapbook. Scrapbook has green fabric covers; binding is no longer intact. There are approximately 200 pages, all of which are now loose. Pages are extremely brittle and fragile; some pages also show evidence of water and mildew damage. Label affixed to inside front cover contains a table of contents as follows: "Vol. I / 1-999 Side Chairs [Page] 1-69 / 1000 - 1999 Arm Chairs 70-151 / 2000-2199 Seats, Benches & Stools 152-159 / 2200-2399 Couches, Sofas 160-207." Scrapbook includes photocopies of pencil sketches of a wide variety of seating furniture manufactured by Irving and Casson - A. H. Davenport Co. Copies are extremely small with some measuring only 1.5 by 2 inches. Drawings are arranged in model number order for the most part and are glued to pages, often covering the entire page. Also included in the album are seven blueprints of side chair designs and approximately five cyanotypes of finished products.
A loose typewritten letter to the New York showroom of Irving and Casson - A. H. Davenport from the Boston office and signed by F. J. McGonagle is also loose in the album. The letter details the model number ranges used for each type of furniture as follows: 1-999 side chairs; 1000-1999 arm chairs; 2000-2199 seats, benches and stools; 2200-2399 couches and sofas; 2400-2599 sideboards; 2600-2799 serving tables, serving trays, tea wagons and lazy Sallys; 2800-2999 cabinets; 3000-3199 library tables and other large tables; 3200-3799 miscellaneous tables; 3800-3999 dining tables, reading, folding and console tables; 4000-4199 bureaus; 4200-4399 chiffonieres and chifforobes; 4400-4599 dressing tables; 4600-4799 beds; 4800-4899 night tables and somnos; 4900-4999 [not noted]; 5000-5099 highboys; 5100-5199 lowboys; 5200-5299 toilet glasses; 5300-5499 chests and boxes; 5500-5599 chevals; 5600-5699 costumers, hat racks and the like; 5700-5799 trunk stands; 5800-5899 bookcases; 6000-6299 desks, letter cases, etc.; 6300-6599 clocks; 6600-6699 pedestals, book ends, mouldings and miscellaneous; 6700-6799 screens; 6800-7199 mirrors; 7200-7399 light fixtures, lamps, shades and candlesticks; 7400-7699 mantels; 7700-7799 [not noted]; 7800-7999 church furniture; 8000-9999 dress forms; and 10000- ? dining tables. Digital images of a selection of items from the album, including the letter, are attached to this record.