The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike,
302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Warner, LaMont Adelbert, 1876-1970
Title: Collection
Dates: 1842-ca.1999, bulk 1902-1949
Call No.:
Acc. No.: 02x5; 06x35; 07x84
Quantity: 16 boxes, 9 volumes (ca. 4
cu.ft.)
Location: 35 I 3-6, and 44 F 2
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
LaMont Adelbert Warner was a designer, a teacher,
and an artist. He was born in
In 1900, Warner moved to
LaMont Warner left The Craftsman Workshops in 1906
to take a position as assistant professor at Teachers College of Columbia
University. His former teacher Arthur
Dow was head of its Fine Arts Department.
Warner taught classes in design (including costume design), interior
decoration, and color harmony. In 1907,
he made the first of several trips to
In 1908, the Warner family (LaMont, his wife Emma V.
Smith, and their young daughter Victorine, who was born in 1905) built a
Craftsman-style house in
The Warners lived in Bronxville until 1938. They were members of the Bronxville Reformed
Church, for which LaMont served as an elder.
When Emma died (before her 50th birthday), he made a silver
cross and presented it to the church in her memory. He was a painter, as well as a designer, and
exhibited his work at local art shows.
However, during the Great Depression, LaMont decided to return to
In addition to being a furniture designer, Warner
designed the interiors of several YMCA buildings in the
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
The collection is composed of LaMont Warner’s design
scrapbook; letters he wrote to his wife while he was in Europe in the summers
of 1907 and 1909, plus a few other letters; pages from his design scrapbook; designs
he drew for his book entitled Design in Line, Notan, and Color for
Students and Teachers of Household Arts, House Decoration and Fine Arts (the
text has not been found; apparently the book was never published); a few
furniture designs done by Warner; drawings by him, mostly flowers done while he
was a student at Pratt; diaries kept by Warner between 1902 and 1968 (there is not
a diary for every year); photographs; trade catalogs of Arts and Crafts style
furniture; Japanese woodblock prints; and a Japanese fabric sample book dated
1842, which belonged to Arthur Dow before it was acquired by Warner.
Most of Warner’s extant furniture designs were
executed in 1925 and were for Early American pieces of furniture: beds,
mirrors, a dresser, a low boy. There are
a few Arts and Crafts designs found in his design scrapbook. Among the photographs are exterior views and
two interior views of the house he built in Bronxville in 1908. The Arts and Crafts influence is clearly seen
in the interior views. Other photos are
of family members and other houses.
Some magazines and books which were once part of
Warner’s library comprise part of the collection. Although some publications focused on antique
furniture, others were about contemporary design, including pieces in the Art
Deco style. A collection of wood
veneers, mostly of American walnut, is found.
As well, the collection includes pattern pieces for upholstering a wing
chair and a collection of Photostats of tombstone rubbings, most of which
feature a willow tree motif.
In the 1980s or 1990s, David Cathers became
interested in LaMont Warner. He
collected articles about the Arts and Crafts movement and Gustav Stickley and
wrote an article about Warner which was published in Style 1900. Copies of all
those articles, plus some that seem to have been collected by Warner’s
son-in-law Allan Knox are included in the collection.
ORGANIZATION
Letters and most photographs are in
Books, periodicals, and trade catalogs are
separately cataloged in WinterCat.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
Most of the materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Accession 02x5: Gift of H. Allan Knox, son-in-law of
LaMont A. Warner.
Accession 06x35: purchased from Benjamin Katz.
Accession 07x84: gift of David Cathers.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Stickley, Gustav, 1852-1942.
Dow,
Arthur W. (Arthur Wesley), 1857-1922.
Cathers,
David M.
Knox,
Victorine Warner, 1905-
Topics:
Reformed Church (
Arts and crafts movement –
House furnishings – Photographs.
Interior decoration – Photographs.
Living room furniture – Photographs.
Dwellings – Photographs.
Voyages and travels.
Men – Diaries.
Design.
Furniture design.
Postage stamps.
Textile fabrics – Specimens.
Textile fabrics – Sample books.
Textile design –
Wood-engraving –
Prints, Japanese.
Trade catalogs – Furniture –
Trade catalogs – Metal-work.
Art deco.
Paper dolls.
Paper toys – 20th century.
Bentwood furniture – Catalogs.
Interior decoration –
George,
Letters.
Scrapbooks.
Diaries.
Photographs.
Drawings.
Designers.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 35 I 3-6, and 44 F 2
Folder 1: Letters
to LaMont Warner
Folder 2: Letters to Emma Warner, 1907 [chiefly
from LaMont, who was in
Folder 3: Letters to Emma Warner, 1909 [chiefly
from LaMont, who was in
Folder 4: Letter to Victorine “Craftsman”
Warner, 1905
Folde 5: Photos of LaMont Warner, houses,
miscellaneous
Folder 6: Photos of Victorine Warner
Folder 7: Negatives
Folder 8: Prints of Warner farm and an Arts and
Crafts style living room
Folder 9: Sketches, unsigned but probably by
LaMont Warner
Folder 10: copy of a poem written by a nurse about
LaMont Warner, Truro, England, 1962; also copies of some pages from his 1962
diary
[Mr. Warner
broke his hip in England and was in the hospital there.]
Folder 11: program for “Pageant of Truth,” 1947
[photocopy]; Warner was art director for this [no accession number]
Folder 1: Notices of lecture and exhibits by
LaMont Warner
Folder 2: “Picture prices at old exhibition” –
lists of pictures and prices, 1932-1983
Folder 3: Postcards [without messages]
Folder 4: Bills for European trips, 1907, 1909;
expense book for 1909 trip (acc. 06x35.28)
Folder 5: Miscellaneous notes
Folder 6: Trade cards, business cards, calling
cards
Folder 7: Articles collected by LaMont Warner
Folder 8: Articles about mission furniture and
about Gustav Stickley, mostly dated 1980s [collected by H. Allan Knox?]
Folders 9-10: Articles collected by David Cathers, about
Warner
Folder 11: “The Craftsman Designs of LaMont A.
Warner,” by David Cathers
Folder 12: Cabinet
Work from The Craftsman Workshops.
Catalogue D.
Folder 13:
[note: includes a separate
price list, laid inside the pamphlet]
Folder 14: Catalogue
of Craftsman Furniture.
[note: signed on front
cover: LaMont A. Warner]
Folder 15: The Caxton Brochures:
Wisdom of
Poor Richard’s Almanack. The Caxton
Brochures, series A, no. 6.
Folder 16: Chips
from the Workshop of Gustave [sic]
Stickley.
Folder 17: The
Craftsman. Vol. 1, no. 1, October
1901. [issue is about William Morris]
Folder 1: Rose, Arthur V. Discovery
of a Long Lost Art. [Staffordshire:
Royal Douton Factories, 1906?]
Folder 2: “XVIII. Century Reproductions &
Adaptations: Bedroom Furniture, Fabrics and Toilet Wares.”
Folder 3: Gustave
Stickley, The Craftsman.
Folder 4: Handcraft
Furnishings.
[trade catalog]
Folder 5: Hand-Wrought
Metal Work in Wrought Iron, Hammered Copper and Brass.
[note: price list is
laid inside the trade catalog]
Folder 6: Strong, Sidney, preparer. His
Coming: The Story of the Coming of God Among Men.
Folder 7: Warner, LaMont A. An Historical Pageant of Lake
George Given at
Folder 8: The
Household Arts Review, vol. 2, no. 3 (April 1910).
[published by Household
Arts Club, Teachers College,
Folder 9: John Wanamaker, ad for Handcraft [Arts
and Crafts style] furniture.
Folder 10: Brown, Frank Chouteau. Letters
& Lettering: A Treatise with 200 Examples.
[note: inscribed LaMont
Warner; several examples of lettering are laid into the volume; the front cover
and the text block are loose]
Folder 11: Minnet
Willow Furniture.
Folder 12: The
Mountains and the Mountain Shop.
Folder 13: New
Furniture from the Workshop of Gustave Stickley, Cabinetmaker. No. 1.
Folder 14: Greenberg, A. Benton. The
Orders of Architecture.
[note: inscribed on
cover; LaMont A. Warner, [illegible] 1921]
Folder 15: Reformed Church,
Warner, LaMont A.,
compiler. Historical Sketch of the Reformed Church at Bronxville, N. Y.,
organized 1850. Bronxville:
Consistory, 1933.
Manual of Reformed Church, Bronxville, N. Y. (organized 1850). Bronxville: Consistory, 1917.
Folder 16: Replicas of Old English Furniture.
[note: “Mr. Warner” is
written on front cover]
Folder 17: A
Souvenir of
Folder 18: Reisner,
Christian. Week-Day Prayers.
[note: inscribed: To L. A.
Warner with warm personal esteem, Christian Reisner, the author,
Folder 19: The
Work of L. & J.G. Stickley,
[trade catalog, n.d., ca.1905]
Folder 1: Design Scrapbook: Designs by LaMont A.
Warner
Folder 2: Design Scrapbook: American colonial
Folder 3: Design Scrapbook: Empire French
Folder 4: Design Scrapbook: English Renaissance,
16th century, Elizabethan, Jacobean
Folder 5: Design Scrapbook: Jewelry
Folder 6: Design Scrapbook: Latin American
Folder 7: Design Scrapbook: Louis XVI
Folder 8: Design Scrapbook: Metalwork
Folder 9: Design Scrapbook: Modern American
Folder 10: Design Scrapbook: Modern
Folder 11: Design Scrapbook: Modern French
Folder 12: Design Scrapbook: Modern German and
Austrian
Folder 13: Design Scrapbook: Modern Scotch [i.e.
Scottish]
Folder 14: Design Scrapbook: [mostly Adam and Hepplewhite]
Folder 15: Design Scrapbook: [Rugs]
Folder 16: Japanese prints: reproductions
Boxes 5A-B: Diaries
Diaries: 1902
1911
1913-1914
1916
1918-1938
1940-1968
coin purse
[empty]
Box 6: Address Books and Stamps collected by LaMont Warner
four address
books;
Folder 1: Exterior photo and two interior photos
(living room and stair hall, showing part of dining room) of the Warner house
at
Folder 2: Products
in Pictures Relating to Interior Design and Decoration, vol. 1, no. 1 (May
1938) (acc. 07x84)
“Directions for
Making a Japanese House.” (
Gebruder Thonet
[Thonet Brothers]. Catalog No. 23 [of
bentwood furniture, antique reproductions, and upholstered furniture].
House Beautiful.
January 1923. (acc. 07x84)
Innen Dekoration. Vol. 19, April issue, 1908. [published in
Jacob &
Josef Kohn and Mundus, Inc.. Bentwood Furniture and Tables, also
Upholstered Furntiure. Catalog no.
22.
[note: inscribed L.A.
Warner]
“Modern British
Domestic Architecture and Decoration.” The Studio, special summer number, 1901.
Pantheon, The Circerone. (Includes English
translation of part of text). August
1931. (acc. 07x84)
Folder 1a: Brocade samples (Chinese or Japanese
patterns)
Folder 1b: fabric samples (acc. 07x84)
Folder 2: Drawings for text book, Design in Line, Notan, and Color for Students
and Teachers of Household Arts, House Decoration and Fine Arts, by LaMont
A. Warner: book cover; title page; design and signature for end of book;
unnumbered designs [mostly chairs in different styles]
Folder 3: Drawings for text book: figures 3-6;
7-14; 15-20; 21-26
Folder 4: Drawings for text book: figures 27-28;
29-32; 33 and 36 [on the same sheet]; 34-35; 37-39
Folder 5: Drawings for text book: figures 40-42;
43; 44; 45-46 and 49-52 [on same sheet]
Folder 6: Drawings for text book: figures 47-48;
53-55; 62-65; 66-68
Folder 7: Drawings for text book: figures 75-81;
82-83; 84-86; 87-88
Folder 8: sample papers and mats
Folder 1: Miscellaneous artwork (acc. no.
02x5.1-.4)
Folder 2: Drawings by LaMont Warner, 1897 (acc.
no. 02x5.5-.17)
Folder 3: Japanese drawings, some by children
(the ages are noted on the drawings) (acc. no. 02x5.18-.28)
Folder 4: Japanese and Chinese prints:
reproductions (acc. no. 02x5.77-.89a-j, .89l [for .89k, see
Folders 5-22: Japanese woodblock prints by Hiroshige II
(also listed as Ryusho) and Toyokuni III, also some unknown artists, all
identified on folders (for full description, see separate list appended to this
finding aid) (acc. no. 02x5.29-.46). Many
of the prints by Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III are from their series
“Thirty-six Views of the Pride of Edo.”
02x5.29 book page with text and black and
white image
02x5.30-.34 Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III, “Thirty-six
Views of the Pride of Edo.”
02x5.35 Ryusho (Hiroshige II), title not
translated
02x5.36-45 Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III, “Thirty-six
Views of the Pride of Edo.”
02x5.46 unknown artist, book page with text
and black and white image
Folders 1-21: Japanese woodblock prints by various artists,
including Hokushu, Kunisada, Toyokuni III, Kuniyasu, Toyokuni (b.1769),
Hiroshige II, Hirokuni, and unknown artists, all identified on folders (for
full description, see separate list appended to this finding aid) (acc. no.
02x5.47-.67)
02x5.47 Hokushu, actor Ichikawa Danjuro
02x5.48 Hokushu, actor Nakamura(?)
02x5.49 Kunisada and Toyokuni III, an actor
02x5.50 Kuniyasu, kabuki actors
02x5.51 Toyokuni, an actor
02x5.52 Toyokuni III, kabuki play
02x5.53 Toyokuni III, Seven Gods of Happiness
02x5.54 Toyokuni III, an actor
02x5.55-.56 Toyokuni III, interior scenes
02x5.57 Toyokuni III, an actor
02x5.58-.59 unknown artists, book pages with text and
images
02x5.60-.64 Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III, “Thirty-six
Views of the Pride of Edo.”
02x5.65 Kunisada/Toyokuni III, no. 17 of One
Hundred Poets
02x5.66 Hirokuni, a drawing, not a woodblock
print
02x5.67 Sogo Matsumoto, “The Making of Color
Prints”
Folders 22-23: Japanese paper with writing, but no pictures
(acc. 02x5.68-.69)
Folders 24-31: Japanese woodblock prints by various artists, including
Hiroshige I, Hiroshige II, Toyokuni III, and Tsuchuya Rakuzan, all identified
on folders (for full description, see separate list appended to this finding
aid) (acc. no. 02x5.70-76, .89k)
02x5.70 Hiroshige I, “Thirteen Famous Views”
02x5.71-76 Hiroshige II and Toyokuni III, “Thirty-six
Views of the Pride of Edo.”
02x5.89k Tsuchuya Rakuzan, no title (goldfish
and weeds with minnows)
Japanese design
and fabric sample book, dated 1842, with black and white drawings and woven
samples of fabric. (acc. no. 02x5.90)
Written on the flyleaf (both
front and back) is the name Arthur W. Dow.
He had traveled to
Chinese painting mounted on a scroll (acc. no.
02x5.91)
Early American drop leaf table, 1925 (acc. no.
02x5.92)
Early American chiffonier, 1925 (acc. no. 02x5.93)
Early American dresser, 1925 (acc. no. 02x5.94)
Early American low boy, 1925 (acc. no. 02x5.95)
Early American shaving mirror and regular mirror, 1925
(acc. no. 02x5.96)
Two Early American beds, 1925 (acc. no. 02x5.97)
Early American night stand (acc. no. 02x5.98)
Early American toilet table (acc. no. 02x5.99)
Good Furniture
and Decoration
(acc. 07x84)
1929, July
1930,
January-February, April-June, August-September, November-December
1931,
January-February
Good Furniture
and Decoration
(acc. 07x84)
1931,
March-April, June-September
Interior
Architecture & Decoration, Combined with Good Furniture and Decoration (acc. 07x84)
1931,
October-December
Innenräume (Stuggart: Fr. Wedekind
& Co., 1928.) (acc. 07x84)
Modern Type
Styles
(American Type Founders Co., n.d., 1928) (acc. 07x84)
“L’abeillée,” meubles et creations de Charles
Dudouty (pamphlet) (acc. 07x84)
Farley, Elsie Sloan.
“Beautiful Windows” (New York:
Columbia Mills, 1923) (acc. 07x84)
Devoe & Raynolds Co., Inc. “Pigments Used for Artists’ Oil Colors” (New
York: The Company, 1920) (acc. 07x84)
“The
22 samples of wood veneers, mostly American walnut;
some samples are not labeled;
Letter from Pickrel Walnut Company, 1933, enclosing
two samples of walnut veneer
Brown paper pattern pieces for upholstery for wing
chair (acc. 07x84)
Original drawings of tombstones (and photostatic
copies of them), mostly featuring willow trees (acc. 07x84)
Publications on shelf:
Art and Industry in Education.
[note: includes an article
by Warner, “Good Furniture”]
Dow, Arthur
Wesley. Composition: A Series of Exercises in Art Structure for the Use of
Students and Teachers. 12th
ed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page
& Co., 1924.
[note: inscribed LaMont A. Warner;
includes a card reading “Good wishes from the Dows and old
Charles C.
J. Elizabethan
Interiors.
Inscribed: LaMont A. Warner,
compliments of the author C. J. Charles.
(acc. 07x84)
Follot, Pual. Interieurs
Francais au Salon des Artistes Decorateurs, Pairs, 1927.
Gray, Stephen,
ed. The
Mission Furniture of L & J.G. Stickley.
Revised edition. New York: Turn
of the Century Editions, 1989.
Kahle, Katharine
Morrison. Modern French Decoration.
[note: inscribed: LaMont A. Warner,
April/1930]
Nye, Alvan
Crocker. Furniture Designing and Draughting: Notes on the Elementary Forms,
Methods of Construction and Dimensions of Common Articles of Furniture.
[note: inscribed: LaMont A. Warner;
a note with Japanese or Chinese characters is laid into the volume]
Les Sièges des Palais et Musées Nationaux du Musée
des Arts Décoratifs, …XVI, XVII, XVIII Siécles et Premier Empire.
[portfolio containing
plates, in various series, mostly depicting chairs, but a few other furniture
forms as well; many plates are missing]
(acc. 07x84)
Includes
the following series and plates.
Sieges
et petits meubles anciens des XVIIe, XVIII siècles et empire, plates 1-2,
38-39, 70-71, 73.
Sieges
Louis XVI, Directoire et 1er Empire, 7e serie, 2e partie, plates 53, 57, 64.
Sieges
des palais, Ire serie, plates 52, 69, 74, 78, 92, 98.
Sieges
des Musees Nationaux, plates 14, 20-23, 34.
Lits,
sieges anciens, series 6e, plates 23, 30, 38.
Le
Chateau de la Malmaison, plates 91-92, 95-96.
Sieges
anciens, plates 17, 22, 27, 35.
Sieges
anciens ou copies de l’ancien, 7e serie, plates 15, 30, 34, 36.
Sieges
et petits meubles de salons anciens ou imites de l’ancien, plates 77-78.
unnamed
series, plates 82, 88-90, 134, 154.
Wagner,
Charles. The Simple Life. Translated
from the French by Mary Louise Hendee, with an introduction and biographical
sketch by Grace King.