Designed for the Artistic House

April 20, 2021

Contributed by David A. Hanks, Driehaus Museum Consulting Curator

Mantel Clock, designed c. 1884, tiles by J. and J.G. Low Art Tile Works, Chelsea, Massachusetts. Works attributed to New Haven Clock Company, New Haven, Connecticut. Glazed earthenware, brass, 12 1/16 x 9 3/4 x 5 7/8 in., the Richard H. Driehaus Museum Collection, RHDM.2017.2.109.

The 1883 Samuel M. Nickerson house was included in the publication Artistic Houses, which featured the grand houses of the era.1 Also included were such masterpieces as the 1882 William H. Vanderbilt house in New York City. The neo-Renaissance style exterior of the Nickerson house, described in Artistic Houses as simple, yet solid and handsome, was similar to that of the Vanderbilt house in its stark simplicity. But while the Vanderbilt house was demolished in 1946, the Nickerson house survives, its sumptuous interior virtually intact, including some of the original furnishings. The interiors of both houses, with their exceptional collections of paintings, sculpture, and object d’art, reflected the tenets of the Aesthetic movement.

Interiors of the Aesthetic movement, often referred to as artistic interiors, incorporated various historical styles of architecture and decorative arts. These included Renaissance and Moorish, among others, but the Japanesque – reflecting the influence of the arts of Japan – was particularly in evidence. The principles of the Aesthetic movement were based on the perceived moral and spiritual importance of art and beauty. The key visual characteristics can be seen in the Nickerson interiors: a unified design with a harmonious color scheme, compartmentalized areas of rich decoration, and an “aversion to blank surfaces.”2 The Driehaus Museum’s mantel clock, with its Japanesque tiles, embodies the characteristics of an artistic house.

As noted in Artistic Houses, a prominent feature of the opulent Nickerson interior was the use of marble facing and decorative ceramic tiles. It is no surprise that the tiles used in the house were made by the premier American tile manufacturer of the day: J. and J.G. Low Art Tile Works. The tiles were readily available from lavishly illustrated catalogues published by the firm beginning in 1881. Low tiles for Chicago buildings such as the Nickerson house could be ordered from their large factory in Chelsea, Massachusetts through their Chicago agent, Henry Dibble, one of the company’s 34 agents in 24 U.S. cities.3 

    Image: Cover of New Haven Clock Co. Catalogue, 1888. The Richard H. Driehaus Museum Archives.

The Low company’s history is well documented in their own catalogues.4 In 1858, John Gardner Low (1835-1907) went to Paris to study landscape painting. When he returned to the U.S. in 1861, he worked painting wall murals, which led to his interest in decorating ceramics, and then tiles, which became his focus.5 On a visit to the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, Low would have seen the British displays of ceramics by such firms as the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company and Minton and Company. The works of these companies inspired him to partner with his father, John Low (1808-1894), to launch their own business in 1878 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Specializing in ceramic tiles, they were successful in combining mass production technology with artistic designs. Although Low himself designed tiles for the firm, many designs are attributed to Arthur Osborne (1855-1942), a British sculptor who immigrated to the United States in 1878. A graduate of London’s School of Design at South Kensington, Osborne remained at Low as Chief Designer from 1879 until the late 1890s. He was responsible for most of the modeled tiles for the company. Unlike most tiles of the period, which were printed in two-dimensional designs or simply glazed, Low was known for modeled tiles, with the decoration in relief.6

The Nickerson house is a stellar example of a surviving interior, with Low tiles enhancing a number of the rooms. Aquamarine tiles in a striking passion-flower vine pattern were used on the upper half of the walls in the Reception Room, to the right of the grand entrance hall. Tiles in a Moorish pattern were used on the walls of the Smoking Room, and other Low tiles were featured in rooms on the second floor. It is in this setting of a house richly decorated with Low tiles that the Low tile mantel clock is particularly significant. It demonstrates a further dimension of the firm’s work beyond interior architecture: the use of decorative tiles in a range of household objects, from cast iron stoves and umbrella stands to picture frames and clock cases.

The design of the Driehaus Museum’s mantel clock, patented by John G. Low, follows a traditional European model. It is rectangular in form with a circular dial flanked by brass diamond lozenges.7 Of note is the use of a ceramic facing for the dial with Arabic numerals, adding an eclectic dimension to the design. The clock’s Japanesque decoration is derived from nature, in keeping with tenets of the Aesthetic movement. The arts of Japan had an important impact on western design after the opening of the country to foreign trade in 1854. The work of British designer Christopher Dresser, who first visited Japan in 1876-77, furthered the phenomenon of Japanism. Low and Osborne would have been familiar with Dresser’s design books and his Japanesque designs, if not actual Japanese objects he brought to New York to be sold.

Japanese designs often incorporated swirling patterns with vine-like leaves and insects or fish, as seen in the Low tiles used on the front, sides and top of the clock. The clock’s tiles are molded with an asymmetrical composition of leaves and insects, which appear to be Japanese honeybees and geranium leaves and vines. Echoing the swirling design of the tiles, brass elements, probably produced by Magee Art Castings Company of Chelsea, Massachusetts, frame the clock on all sides with spiraling waves of Chinese cloud motifs. The brass fretwork key pattern at the pediment and base relates to stands used to support Japanese vases. The clock case is attributed to the New Haven Clock Company; a similar clock is identified in their 1888 catalogue as the Albatross clock. It is likely that Arthur Osborne designed the tiles used in the mantel clock, as he is credited with most of the Low tile designs. The clock was produced in a range of rich and beautiful glazes – olive green in this example – but also deep blue and mustard yellow. For these glazes, another Low artist must be credited: George W. Robertson (1835-1914), who, like John Gardner Low, had previously worked at the American art pottery firm Chelsea Keramic Art Works. The mantel clock’s cohesive design, combining ceramic and brass elements and incorporating Japanesque motifs from nature, contributes to its aesthetic success.8 The clock is particularly appropriate for the Driehaus Museum collection; it perfectly reflects the concept of the artistic house and complements the remarkably intact Aesthetic movement interior.
 

Image above: Albatross clock in the New Haven Clock Co. Catalogue, 1888. The Richard H. Driehaus Museum Archives.

 

1 George William Sheldon, Artistic houses, Being a Series of Interior Views of a Number of the Most Beautiful and Celebrated Homes in the United States, 2 vols. in 4 pts. (New York: Printed for the subscribers by D. Appleton and Company, 1883-84) The Nickerson house was published in vol. 2, Part 1, pp. 49-54.

2 Marilynn Johnson discusses these characteristics in her chapter entitled “The Artful Interior” in the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition catalogue In Pursuit of Beauty: Americans and the Aesthetic Movement (New York: Rizzoli 1986)

3 Henry Dibble, the General Agent for the sale of Low tiles in Chicago, advertised in the 1884 Low Art Tile catalogue: “Importer & Dealer in Floor & Ornamental Tile. Salesroom 266 and 268 Wabash Ave. Chicago.”

4 Illustrated Catalogue of Art Tiles Made by J.G. & J.F. Low, Chelsea Mass. U.S.A. Copyright 1881

5 In Pursuit of Beauty, 232

6 In Pursuit of Beauty, 234 and 449

7 John G. Low applied for a patent for the clock case in 1884, and it was granted on January 6, 1886 (333,873).

8 A number of major art museums have acquired examples of this clock, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Less successful versions of this clock also exist, featuring a metal clock face and Low tiles decorated with cherubs.



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