High-style, mass-produced American furniture

Magazine Antiques, May, 1999 by Anna Tobin D'Ambrosio

The complexity of the New York City furniture trade during the second half of the nineteenth century has begun to unfold through major exhibitions and publications, reveling diverse avenues of study. The highest echelon firms such as Leon Marcotte and Company and Herter Brothers, which catered to a wealthy clientele nationwide, have received much scholarly attention.

The legion of establishments that served the burgeoning middle class, however, have yet to be studied extensively. Here, Kilian Brothers and M. and H. Schrenkeisen are used to demonstrate how a combination of economical manufacturing techniques and extensive wholesaling resulted in the fabrication and availability of fashionable furniture that represented a truly American blend of commerce and aesthetics.

Theodore (b.c. 1828) and Frederick (b.c. 1831) Kilian, immigrants from Germany formed Kilian and Brother around 1856. The name Kilian Brothers was adopted in 1858, and by 1860 a third brother, William (b.c. 1834), had joined the firm. By 1869 this prosperous family operation used steam power - a relatively early use of this source of energy for manufacturing. By 1870 the company employed as many as 110 workers and occupied several buildings.(1) At various times Kilian Brothers sold fireplace mantels and ran a carpet cleaning business in addition to making and retailing furniture.

A report on the company's display at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia reads: "As extensive use of machinery is made in their manufacture...the goods are...within reach of people of moderate means who have a taste for the ornamental."(2) This judgment is borne out by photographs of the firm's offerings of about 1870 ([ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURES 1, 2 OMITTED] and [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE III OMITTED]).

To carve a niche in the highly competitive trade, Kilian Brothers catered to consumers who wanted to add stylish, modern accents to their rooms at moderate expense. Consequently the company's catalogues are replete with heavily adorned accessories, such as reception chairs, filing cabinets, small tables, stands, pedestals [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATES I AND II OMITTED], easels, and music stands. The surfaces, predominantly ebonized, are laced with gilded incised lines that are fanciful interpretations of Greek and Egyptian motifs associated with the neo-grec style. These motifs may have been derived from such sources as The Grammar of Ornament of 1856 by the English architect and designer Owen Jones (1809-1874). Most of Kilian's wares are enhanced with polychrome details and marquetry and are accented by bronze mounts and dangling beaded chains.

The pedestal in Plate I exemplifies Kilian's stylistic predilections. The uncomplicated body is composed of stacked geometric forms bedecked with incised lines, a vivid palette, and metal mounts. Light and dark surfaces, typical of neo-grec furniture, are played against one another for dramatic effect. Gilded and ebonized surfaces, accented by red, green, and gold highlights, are enhanced by the warm tone of the walnut. United by chain swags, patinated putti mounts crown the extremities [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE IA OMITTED].

The shape of the pedestal was most probably derived from the colorful jardinieres and stands in nineteenth-century design sources such as Victor Quetin's Le Magasin de Meubles: Album de Meubles Boulle, No. 10 [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE VI OMITTED]. It may also have evolved from the lightweight French tripods known as atheniennes that were used as washstands, perfume burners, or plant stands. The example in Plate VII is a washstand designed for Napoleon and based on Roman tripods unearthed at Herculaneum and Pompeii.(3) By drawing on the same historical antecedents and European design sources, companies such as Kilian Brothers followed the stylistic leads established by the most sophisticated firms.

The effective ornamentation on the worktable shown in Plate IV masks its construction and simple composition (a hinged box on legs). Here Renaissance-inspired and classically influenced mounts [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE IVA OMITTED], burl walnut veneer, incised lines (either gilded or painted green), and ebonized elements coalesce into a harmonious whole. The company offered this worktable with various finishes as well as different tops and ornamental details [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED]. The 1872 price list records three variations of the table: a plain model "in white" for sixteen dollars, a "finished and richly ornamented" example for twenty-four dollars, and the same table with a "marquetrie top, black and gilt," for twenty-eight dollars.(4) The use of interchangeable parts allowed Kilian's to offer the consumer the broadest number of choices.

Kilian Brothers were wholesalers, but it is unclear whether the firm also sold at retail. The photographs in the catalogue of about 1870 ([ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURES 1, 2 OMITTED] and [ILLUSTRATION FOR PLATE III OMITTED]) are marked with an alphabetical code that refers to entries on the price list of 1872.(5) The catalogues were made available to retailers who could thus offer an extensive selection to their clients without having to keep the objects in stock - a then common practice in the retail business. The scope of Kilian's distribution is demonstrated by the table in Plate V, which bears the paper label of Prudent Mallard, a New Orleans cabinetmaker.(6) Although the label reads "MANUFACTURED/BY/P. MALLARD," the table is clearly the one from Kilian's catalogue shown in Plate III. Without this type of photographic evidence, attributions would be extremely difficult. Pedestals strikingly similar to those made by Kilian Brothers, for example, were sold by other establishments, such as James W. Cooper of Philadelphia.