American Aesthetic Carved Walnut Dining Table , late 19th c., attr. to Herter Brothers, New York, molded frieze, floral-carved Ionic columnar supports, gadrooned pedestal base, with 6 leaves and storage case , h. 29 in., l. (extended) 136 in., w. (closed) 48 in., d. 48 in. Note: The Herter Brothers firm of New York created some of the most extravagant furniture of the late 19th century for prominent names such as Rockefeller and Vanderbilt. Dining tables are very rare among known Herter Brothers examples. The elaborately carved dining table offered here is closely related in style and proportion to a Herter dining table in the collection of the Driehaus Museum in Chicago. The present lot is also related to a Herter Brothers sideboard in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, which features a similar carved sunflower motif—a common pattern used in late 19th century Aesthetic design.
Ref.: “From the Collection, Herter Brothers Dining Table, 1883.” The Driehaus Museum, Chicago. Howe, Katherine S., Alice Cooney Freling¬huysen and Catherine Hoover Voorsanger, et al. Herter Brothers: Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1994, pp 50, 171.