The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: French & Company (New
York, N.Y.)
Title: Photograph albums and drawings
Dates: circa 1930
Call No.: Col. 584
Acc. No.: 99x88; 14x41.7
Quantity: 7 albums, 1 box
Location: 2 H 1-3
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
French & Company, a New York City-based design
firm and art gallery, was founded by Mitchell Samuels (1880-1959) and Percy W.
French (born circa 1871 in England) in 1907.
Samuels purchased Sypher & Co. (successor to Matley & Co., which
had been founded in 1840), with backing from Charles M. Ffoulke, a noted
tapestry collection. The firm was best known for its sale of
tapestries, to a distinguished group of museums and collectors, including Henry
Francis du Pont, William Randolph Hearst, and J. Paul Getty. The firm provided other art works, furniture,
objets d’art, antiques, wood paneling, and interior design services as well.
Mitchell Samuels had worked for W. & J. Sloan
before starting his own firm. Samuel’s
brothers Robert and Milton eventually joined French & Company. Samuel’s son Spencer (1914-1999) became
president in the 1950s and sold the firm to City Investing in 1959, but
remained as an employee until 1963. The
firm still exists as dealers in art.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Photo albums and design drawings from French &
Company. The seven photo albums in
Series I are not identified, but probably they depict homes, apartments, and
offices which the personnel of French & Company decorated. The photographs
are mostly of the interiors of homes, but one album includes exterior views of
one house and its gardens. This house is
set near a large body of water. Near the
house and gardens are other buildings and a tennis court. The interior photographs show living and
dining rooms, libraries and offices, sitting rooms, bedrooms (including one for
a small girl), bathrooms, children’s playroom and nursery, an inglenook, a bar,
staircases, and entrance halls. On the
back of one photograph in volume 6 can be found a sketch of furniture placement
in a room (not, however, for the room depicted in the photograph). Photographs of the same room do not always follow
each other in an album.
The photos show furniture, art (paintings,
tapestries, sculptures, decorative objects), clocks, lighting fixtures, floral
and plant arrangements, delft tiles, telephones, rugs and carpets, carved
stonework, ceilings with decorative plaster work, stained glass windows, walls
covered with wood paneling, murals, or wallpaper, and other trappings of
expensive homes. The furniture is in different
styles, mostly of the 16th to 18th centuries (Jacobethan and French); probably
many are reproductions, although some pieces look like antiques.
A number of the drawings in Series II were signed by
Percy W. French himself, not with the company name. Included are floor plans, furniture layouts,
interior elevations, ceiling designs, and furniture drawings. One group of drawings is for a mansion
called Miramar (not the one in Newport, Rhode Island). Two sets are numbered, but the clients for
whom they were created are not identified. This series also includes 4 additional
photographs of interiors.
ORGANIZATION
Series I: photograph albums (acc. 99x88)
Series II: drawings and loose photos (acc. 14x41.7)
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are chiefly pictorial, but writing is
in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Accession 99x88: gift of Munson- Williams-Proctor
Institute.
Accession 14x41.7: gift of David Doret.
RELATED
MATERIALS
The main business archive of French & Company is
held by the Getty Museum.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Photography of interiors.
Photography of gardens.
Mansions - Photographs.
Interior decoration - Photographs.
Interior architecture - Photographs.
House furnishings - Photographs.
Furniture - Photographs.
Antiques - Photographs.
Apartment houses.
Gardens - Photographs.
Office decoration - United States.
Ceilings.
Furniture –
Drawings.
Room layout
(Dwellings)
Rugs – Design.
Architectural
drawings.
Black-and-white photographs.
Photograph albums.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 2 H 1-3
Series I:
Photograph albums (acc. 99x88)
Acc. 99x88.1 house
by the sea, including garden, exterior, and interior views
.2 house interiors
.3 office interior
.4 apartment interiors: living, dining,
bed, and bath rooms
.5 house interiors
.6 house interiors
.7 house interiors, including children’s
nursery
Series II:
Drawings (acc. 14x41.7)
Folder 1: .7a F. Schumacher & Co. envelope which
came with the collection
.7b pencil sketch for a sign: P.W. French and
Associates
Folder 2: Photographs:
.7c room with beamed cathedral ceiling
.7d hallway, with plants on window sill and
tapestry on wall and bench
.7e-f two views of a paneled room
Folder 3: Miramar, September 1930 (location and
owner unknown)
.7g floor
plans for 1st, 2d, and 3d floors, with brief notes about kitchen
.7h furniture
plan for first floor entrance hall, with location of other rooms indicated and
elevations for a large coat closet; on back: drawing of a pedestal or column
.7i cross
sections for entrance and stairs
.7j elevations
for entrance hall and 2d floor corridor
.7k cross
sections thru hall, with new panels and door trim
.7L hall
.7m reception
room: elevations for 3 walls (2 in color) plus furniture layout;
On back: furniture
layout for another room
.7n drawing
room: elevations and furniture layout, in color;
Note: “see sheet under
for ceiling”; although .7o is not labeled as Miramar, the size of that drawing
matches this room and is presumed to be the ceiling for this room
.7o “new
plaster ceiling in drawing room,” not labeled Miramar but presumed to be for
the room depicted in .7n because the size is the same
.7p dining
room, in color, showing design for draperies and placement of portraits
.7q sitting
room, 2d floor, partially in color, showing ceiling decoration and 3 wall
elevations
.7r daughter’s
bed chamber, in color, showing wall elevations and furniture layout; name
Mildred is added in pencil
.7s boudoir,
2d floor, showing wall elevations and furniture layout; “no” added in pencil;
not labeled Miramar, but
drawing style similar to other Miramar drawings, and the room shape fits room 3
on the 2d floor in .7g
Folder 4: Rooms
with furniture layouts, numbered 1-10 (house owner and location unknown)
.7t no.
1: dining room, with sketch of a serving table
.7u no.
2: living room
.7v no.
3: powder room (for bedroom no. 5);
Labeled as powder room,
but seems to be dressing room
.7w no.
4: card room and library [2 rooms]
.7x no.
5: main hall and bedroom no. 2 [2 rooms]
.7y no.
6: owner’s bedroom; brief sketch on back
.7z no.
7: 2d floor hall and bedroom no. 3 (Early American) [2 rooms]
.7aa no.
8: nursery
.7bb no.
9: suggestion for whatnot in living room (in color) and suggestions for living
room curtains, with brief sketch of something else
.7cc no.
10: curtains, not labeled, but same as living room curtains in no. 9;
On back: sketches of
various pieces of furniture
Folder 5: Rooms
with furniture layouts, numbered 2, 4, 6-9 (house owner and location unknown)
.7dd no.
2: alternate plan for living room & library, building partition across
loggia
.7ee no.
4: chambers 1 and 2, with outline of something else on back
.7ff no.
6: design for the cabinet in living room
.7gg no.
7: curio console table and mirror for end of living room, in color;
[see also 14x41.7pp –
undoubtedly the design for this table]
.7hh no.
8: scheme for library, with wall elevations, but no furniture layout; one wall
in color; also sketches for furniture
.7ii no.
9: design for library ceiling, in color
Folder 6:
Furniture drawings
.7jj chair
and table, with variations on leg design
.7kk revised
sketch for tables, A, B, C, possibly same table as depicted in .7jj
.7LL breakfront, china cabinet, or book case, front and side views
.7mm arm
chair in Chippendale style
.7nn dining
room chair, with upholstered back as well as seat
.7oo full-size
drawings of 2 designs for table legs, with partial sketch of the apron and a
view of the top
.7pp partial
but full-scale design, almost undoubtedly for the curio console table in folder
5 above (acc. 14x41.7gg)
Folder 7:
Exteriors
.7qq front
door of a residence, showing layout of brick and stone work around the door
.7rr front
steps, with stone balustrade, to a building
.7ss top
sketch: façade of a house;
bottom sketch: stone steps
similar to those in .7rr, with two men standing near steps
folder 8: Miscellaneous
.7tt mantel,
carved with musical instruments, flanked by two different floor lamps; portrait
to hang above fireplace; with notes
.7uu although
not labeled, undoubtedly a design for ceiling plasterwork
.7vv various
carved or plasterwork panels
.7ww design
for rug on platform of living room, partially in color
.7xx various
sketches: beamed ceiling pattern; a balustrade; a brick pattern; fireplace and
mantel; a round design, probably for a table top; an pattern for an unknown
purpose;
on back:
plasterwork or carved design to fit into a triangular shape