Show us your pedestals!

[MTPhono]

Fran -

I have a similar Washington portrait but is a variation. I had it dated once and apparently it is from the early to mid 1800s as is its frame. I've not been able to find out much more than what is presented in your link. I wonder which was earlier or why multiple versions.

Scott

Thank you, Harry.

As we've nicely advanced this thread in ways I couldn't have imagined, I'm reminded of a very special table we have in our possession.

It was my great-grandfather's grandfather's. He was a teacher and publisher of Spencerian script in the mid-late 19th century along with his partners R. Platt Spencer and Victor Rice. He actually made the original master copies of the published books used in the schools and seminaries they each mentored.

This was his self-made home writing table and chair. The table now supports my Standard Model A and period ephemera. The portrait of Zachary Taylor, which hangs on the wall behind and above it, was an amazing testimony to his advanced expertise in the art. Done with a quill pen and nothing more than ink shades extracted from tobacco, as the family legend has it, and has been passed down now for 7 generations (including me to my own grandchildren). It is claimed in a letter written by one of my aged relatives to a Batavia, NY librarian/historian in 1993: "His masterpiece, as he called it, won the prize at the Crystal Palace in London which gave him the championship title." Unfortunately he had never received any acclaim that I know of here.

The attachment A.S. Pratt table, chair and Zachary Taylor portrait 1850's.jpg is no longer available

Another more famous of his portraits, this one of George Washington done using the same techniques, met with much more fame as a print created from the original, and one such print is memorialized and preserved at George Washington's Mt. Vernon: https://www.mountvernon.org/preservatio ... ct/sc-155/. It's my understanding the print was very popular, and could be found in many homes at one time. Two original portraits were done by him. Through my own research, I discovered one is currently housed at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, and I understand the other original was/is housed somewhere at the Smithsonian. I believe reproductions are still made available at Mt. Vernon.

The attachment DI_2149-2_SC-155.jpg is no longer available

Cheers,
Fran

[startgroove]

Okay, back to the pedestals. Here is another one for you. We are not sure of the original intention for the cabinet, maybe sheet music, or music box disc storage, but it makes a great cylinder record storage cabinet, when every other drawer is removed. The front door slides all the way down to the bottom to expose several more drawers. Each drawer pulls out for easy access to all the items on the drawer. Cheers, Russie

[fran604g]

Fran -

I have a similar Washington portrait but is a variation. I had it dated once and apparently it is from the early to mid 1800s as is its frame. I've not been able to find out much more than what is presented in your link. I wonder which was earlier or why multiple versions.

Scott

Hi Scott, thank you for bringing yours to my attention! If I may ask, are the markings at the bottom the same, i.e. Spencer, Rice, Pratt, etc.?

My personal opinion is that my distant relative, in stating in her letter about the exhibition he may have performed at the Crystal Place, may actually have been the Washington portrait. To me that would make more sense "on the world stage" so to speak, and would explain why more than one was produced, and why 2 different versions - using differing pen strokes - may have survived.

Pure speculation on my part, and though the reasons are lost to history, I certainly hope I live long enough to see the truth uncovered.

Best,
Fran

[fran604g]

Okay, back to the pedestals. Here is another one for you. We are not sure of the original intention for the cabinet, maybe sheet music, or music box disc storage, but it makes a great cylinder record storage cabinet, when every other drawer is removed. The front door slides all the way down to the bottom to expose several more drawers. Each drawer pulls out for easy access to all the items on the drawer. Cheers, Russie

Thank you for another contribution Russie!

Cheers,
Fran

[MTPhono]

Feel free to take this offline if you would like. I have found several other examples today - 4 at least. When I bought this 20+ years ago there wasn't much online that I could find. Quite a few more now.

Scott

Fran -

I have a similar Washington portrait but is a variation. I had it dated once and apparently it is from the early to mid 1800s as is its frame. I've not been able to find out much more than what is presented in your link. I wonder which was earlier or why multiple versions.

Scott

Hi Scott, thank you for bringing yours to my attention! If I may ask, are the markings at the bottom the same, i.e. Spencer, Rice, Pratt, etc.?

My personal opinion is that my distant relative, in stating in her letter about the exhibition he may have performed at the Crystal Place, may actually have been the Washington portrait. To me that would make more sense "on the world stage" so to speak, and would explain why more than one was produced, and why 2 different versions - using differing pen strokes - may have survived.

Pure speculation on my part, and though the reasons are lost to history, I certainly hope I live long enough to see the truth uncovered.

Best,
Fran

[fran604g]

Feel free to take this offline if you would like. I have found several other examples today - 4 at least. When I bought this 20+ years ago there wasn't much online that I could find. Quite a few more now.

Scott

I've seen many portraits (on the interwebs) over the years, done in ink using a similar style, but I only know of the 2 Washington, and my single Taylor portrait, that were specifically produced by my ancestor. It would've been a very common art-type of the age, IMHO. My father and a cousin had compiled other documents done by him, and I have scans of them in my possession. The original copy books themselves very rarely survived - from what I can tell. And they surely would've been much more plentiful.

Best,
Fran

[tictalk]

This probably was a plant stand originally, but its been the resting place for this American made Ansonia Fisher and Falconer Swing Clock c 1880s for the last 15 years.

[startgroove]

Nice! I like the style.

[Roaring20s]

Yes, the shape and lines of the stand are elegant and a continuation of the clock's shape.

James.

[Roaring20s]

Okay, back to the pedestals. Here is another one for you. We are not sure of the original intention for the cabinet, maybe sheet music, or music box disc storage, but it makes a great cylinder record storage cabinet, when every other drawer is removed. The front door slides all the way down to the bottom to expose several more drawers. Each drawer pulls out for easy access to all the items on the drawer. Cheers, Russie

While searching for a cabinet information, I found this link...
http://www.puritanvalues.co.uk/21976.htm
NIF 40A, see also BD 7
A rare Arts and Crafts oak record cabinet for holding 78's (LP's do not fit into this cabinet).
Height 34 ½", Width 15, Depth 15".Circa 1900
£750.

James.