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• 1 media/200203_All-Over-Design_0175.jpg 2020-06-11T19:09:49+00:00 Art and Artifact Collections 171 structured_gallery 2021-12-07T19:31:10+00:00 Please allow page to load.
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company 
  Armchair
  ca. 1881-1886 
  Wood
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.360.a
  
  

  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Bed
  ca. 1885-1887
  Chased brass over teak core, perforated copper
  Gift of Mary Patterson McPherson, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1978 – 1997
  Deanery.453.a
  
  

  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Hanging Seat
  ca. 1881-1886
  Wood, metal
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.363.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Hexagonal Table
  ca. 1885-1887
  Wood
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.382.a
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.d
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.e
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.f
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.o
   
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.q
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.t
  
   

  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Pierced Decorative Metalwork
  ca. 1908
  Brass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2012.4.6.u
  
  
  
  
   

  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Side Chair
  ca. 1881-1886
  Wood, Upholstery
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.368.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company
  Sofa
  ca. 1881-1886
  Wood, Upholstery
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.362.a
  
  
  
   

  Antoine-Louis Barye
  Parrot Figurine
  n.d.
  Bronze
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.477
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  Unknown maker (New York), Lockwood de Forest (designer)
  Armchair
  ca. 1908
  Wood, upholstery, metal
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.355.b
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Lockwood de Forest
  Grand Canyon
  1906
  Oil on Masonite
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.196
   

  
  Lockwood de Forest
  Palm Springs
  1907
  Oil on Masonite
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.193
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Lockwood de Forest
  Palm Springs
  1907
  Oil on Masonite
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.194
  
  
  
  Lockwood de Forest
  Palm Springs
  1907
  Oil on Masonite
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.195
  
  
  
  
  Unknown maker (New York), Lockwood de Forest (designer)
  Side Chair
  ca. 1908
  Wood, upholstery, metal
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.357.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  Yevgeny Lansere
  Sheep from the Caucasus
  1875
  Bronze
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.33
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Rookwood Pottery
  Floor Lamp with Vase Base
  n.d.
  Bronze, ceramic, (modern) shade.
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.400
  
   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  John Singer Sargent 
  M. Carey Thomas
  July 1899
  Oil on Canvas
  Commissioned by Bryn Mawr College
  X.205
   

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Tiffany Studios
  Table Lamp
  ca. 1907-1908
  Bronze, shell
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.249.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Unknown maker
  Askos (Jug)
  n.d.
  Bronze
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.497
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  Unknown maker
  Small Table
  n.d.
  Walnut, Mother-of-Pearl, Bone, Lead.
  Deanery.413.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  ​​​​​​Unknown maker (Damascus, Syria)
  Chest
  n.d.
  Walnut, mother-of-pearl, lead
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.302.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Unknown maker (Damascus, Syria)
  Cypress Tile from the Deanery Garden
  n.d.
  Ceramic
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.567
  
  
   

  Unknown maker (Damascus, Syria)
  Cypress Tile from the Deanery Garden
  n.d.
  Ceramic
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.566
   

  Unknown maker
  Incense Burner
  n.d.
  Bronze, mother-of-Pearl
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2013.4.14.a
   

  Unknown maker
  Japanese Garden Seat
  n.d.
  Ceramic
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.184
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Unknown maker
  Jardiniere
  n.d.
  Ceramic
  W.545
  
  
  
  
   

  
  

  Unknown maker
  Japanese Vase
  Meiji: late 19th - early 20th century
  Ceramic with Glaze
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  2007.3.21
  
  
  
  
  Unknown maker (possibly Hoshiapur, India)
  Octagonal Inlaid Tabouret
  n.d.
  Wood, bone or ivory.
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.465.a
   

  Unknown maker (India)
  Peacock Feather Fan
  n.d.
  Peacock feather, straw, newsprint.
  Bryn Mawr College Archives 

  
  

  Unknown maker, Lockwood de Forest (designer)
  Hexagonal Table
  ca. 1881-1908
  Wood, Paint
  Deanery.966.a
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   

  Unknown maker (Kashmir, India)
  Side Chair
  1881
  Wood, paint, upholstery
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  Deanery.372
   

  
  

  Unknown maker
  Vase
  n.d.
  Glass
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas
  W.730

• 1 media/W.196_BMC_f_2.jpg 2020-09-18T15:02:09+00:00 Coda: Fading Light 6 plain 2021-03-29T15:10:36+00:00
  In the twentieth century, demand for de Forest's work gradually faded. Critics and clients increasingly preferred sparse modernist designs over the densely ornamented interiors of the Aesthetic Movement. During his most productive years at Bryn Mawr, de Forest's work elsewhere was winding down.
  
  De Forest's ties to Ahmedabad loosened following the deaths of Muggunbhai Hutheesing and sons Sarabhai and Dalpatbhai. In 1908, he sold the remaining Ahmedabad Wood Carving Company stock to Tiffany Studios. Subsequent travels in India were devoted not to the management of the Company workshops, but to collecting jewelry and antiques. In 1922, de Forest auctioned off the rest of his inventory and retired permanently to Santa Barbara, California, where he continued to devote himself to painting atmospheric landscapes and writing on art eduction.
  
  In his commissions for the College, de Forest preserved a moment of connection between Ahmedabad and Bryn Mawr. The furniture displayed here is a remnant of this global network and provides an important opportunity to examine how the cultural values of the late nineteenth century shaped this campus.
  
  Unknown maker (Damascus, Syria) 
  Chest 
  n.d. 
  Walnut, mother-of-pearl, lead 
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922 
  Deanery.302
  
  Twenty-one mother-of-pearl inlaid chests were auctioned by de Forest when he retired to Santa Barbara in 1922, along with a large number of carved and inlaid panels. The volume of unsold inventory and the disappointingly low prices achieved at auction are representative of the waning market for de Forest’s decorating business. It is unclear whether this chest is a sixteenth-century antique, as stated in the auction catalogue, or whether it was produced for market by contemporary ṣanādiqī cabinet makers. Whatever its provenance, the rhythmic carvings and reflective shell inlay appealed to de Forest and his clients:  a Steinway upright piano that replicated the designs of these chests was commissioned by Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1888.
  
  Tiffany Studios 
  Table Lamp 
  c.1907–8 
  Bronze, shell 
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922 
  W.249
  
  This lamp is a surviving example of the large collection of Tiffany Studios lighting that once filled the Deanery. Bryn Mawr and Tiffany were closely connected: Louis Comfort Tiffany, founder and artistic director of Tiffany Studios, was de Forest’s frequent collaborator, and M. Carey Thomas’s brother Bond worked as their general manager. Tiffany Studios was known for their innovative use of materials, particularly their invention of ‘Favrile’ iridescent glass. The translucent panes of this lampshade have been identified as ‘kappa’ or Capiz shell, a pressed mother-of-pearl material imported from the Philippines.
  
  Unknown maker 
  Japanese Vase 
  Meiji: Late 19th century–early 20th century 
  Ceramic with glaze 
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922 
  2007.3.2
  
  Unknown maker 
  Vase 
  n.d. 
  Glass 
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922 
  W.730
  
  Unknown maker (New York) 
  Lockwood de Forest (designer) 
  Hexagonal Table 
  ca. 1881–1908 
  Wood, paint 
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922 
  Deanery.966
  
  The all-over pattern stenciled onto this hexagonal tabouret is taken from a brass foil shown on Plate XV of de Forest’s Illustrations of Design. De Forest argued that stenciling was at the heart of “nearly all good design,” and the technique forms the basis of his writings on art education. Its reversal of positive and negative space, an interplay between foreground and background, offered infinite possibilities to both master carvers and novice students. Moreover, painted stencils could replicate the effects of finely carved teak in cheaper American materials. This combination of aesthetics and economy may explain why de Forest selected the technique for the furniture, cabinetry, and ceiling of M. Carey Thomas’s office in Taylor Hall.
  
  Lockwood de Forest 
  Grand Canyon
  1906 
  Oil on masonite 
  Bequest of M. Carey Thomas, President of Bryn Mawr College, 1894–1922 
  W.196 
  Restored 1964 by Ruth Levy Merriam ’31