Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)
weed holder
Chicago, Illinois, circa 1895
copper with an original brown and red patina
fabricated by James A. Miller & Brother
4 1/4"sq x 27 7/8"h

Provenance:
Robert B. Miller (fabricator of the weed holder, James A. Miller & Brother Manufacturing)
Henriette M. Miller
Allison L. Burdick Sr.
Thence by descent

Catalog Note:
This weed holder was one of a pair owned by the Burdick family of Oak Park, Illinois. The other example was donated to the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust by Dr. and Mrs. A.L. Burdick Jr. on December 29, 1995; it is currently on display in the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park, Illinois.

The slim obelisk shape of the weed holder is a prime illustration of Wright's philosophy in practical and organic design that incorporates the local landscape — in this case, for holding prairie weeds commonly found in the Midwest.

Weed holders appear in several photographs and original drawings, including a classic photograph circa 1895 on either side of a Wright-designed chair and a statue of his son, John. John Lloyd Wright reminisced in his My Father Who Is on Earth (1956) regarding the design, “Not satisfied with the bric-a-brac of the day, Father designed his own. Father liked weeds!”

The vases were patinated in thin layers of lacquer, the same treatment used on the bulbous copper urns, another important form of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed metalwork from the end of the 19th century. Wright extolled the merits of copper in his seminal article, “In the Cause of Architecture”, which he wrote for the Architectural Record in October 1928. Wright described copper as "the only sheet metal that has yet entered into architecture as a beautiful and permanent material … copper is more nearly permanent than anything we have at hand as an architect's medium." In the article, referring to James Miller, Wright said, "At that time [1895], I designed some sheet copper bowls, slender flower holders and things for him, and fell in love with sheet copper as a building material."

Wright-designed weed holders were utilized in some of his most important commissions, including Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio (Oak Park, Illinois), Susan Lawrence Dana House (Springfield, Illinois), Browne's Bookstore (Chicago, Illinois) and Avery Coonley House (Riverside, Illinois). There are approximately 16 known Wright weed holders. Examples of these may be found in the collections of various prestigious museums, such as the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement (St. Petersburg, Florida), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, New York), the British Museum (London, England), Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, California), Minneapolis Institute of Art (Minneapolis, Minnesota), and Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania).

Original patina. Slight bend. Some seam separation to base at corner. An excellent example of this form.