The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Irving and Casson                              

Title:               Furniture designs

Dates:             ca.1908-ca.1925

Call No.:         Col. 752

Acc. No.:        79x69, 01x154, 04x109

Quantity:        25 boxes, 2 volumes, 1 folder (7 cu. ft.)

Location:        8 G 1-5

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Irving and Casson was a Boston, Massachusetts, firm of interior designers and furniture makers, founded in 1875.  Its specialty was interior woodwork and mantels, but it also made furniture, primarily in the styles of the 17th and 18th centuries.  In 1914 or 1916, the firm merged with A.H. Davenport, a furniture company also located in Boston (both had factories in East Cambridge).  After the merger, the company executed a number of commissions for Gothic Revival churches, including the chapels at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh.  The company’s last major design commission was for the interiors for the United Nations buildings in New York City, executed in the 1950s.  Irving and Casson-A.H. Davenport went out of business in 1974.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The collection contains a scrapbook with designs and sales information; a volume of drawings; loose photos and drawings; blueprints of furniture; designs for compo, papier maché, and carton pierre pieces; and furniture stock cards, which comprise the bulk of the collection.  The stock cards include a photo of the piece, the name (usually something simple such as “side chair” or more descriptive such as “gate-leg table”), model number, and size.  Occasionally, other information is included, such as price, wood used, or name of a customer.  The blueprints were executed after the merger of Irving and Casson with A.H. Davenport Co.  The blueprints include stock number and size and can usually be matched to the furniture stock cards.  The loose drawings and photos usually are labeled with stock number and sometimes size, price, or notes about manufacturing.  The drawings in the large volume are dated 1908-1910.  Information about size and manufacture is given.  Almost all the designs were inspired by furniture of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries.  There are a few pieces that reflect Art Deco and early 20th century designs, but even the phonograph and radio cabinets were based on 18th century furniture styles.

 

The scrapbook contains sketches and photographs of furniture, designs for chairs, clippings that were probably used for design inspirations, etc., mounted in a volume that served as a list of orders for furniture.  Accounts are arranged by a number that corresponds to a particular piece of furniture (some of which are illustrated in the volume).  Under the number a date, a customer's name, and number of hours of labor are written.  Most of the sketches are of chairs and provide a model number, dimensions, notes about ornamentation, molding, and upholstery.  Several of the drawings contain references to plaster casts, presumably used in manufacturing the pieces.  The chairs represent a wide range of furniture styles that were English or French in origin.  Two shipping labels in the back of the volume are addressed to Irving and Casson/A.H. Davenport Co.

 

The cards for compo, papier maché, and carton pierre designs show the designs, the stock

numbers, and list the sizes of each piece.  The designs include column capitals; heads of lions, mythological creatures, and winged cupids; shells; and panels. 

 

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The stock cards are divided by furniture form (chairs, sofas, tables,             etc.) and then arranged in stock number order.   

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

 

 

PROVENANCE

 

Scrapbook (acc. 79x69) purchased from N. David Scotti, Providence, R.I.

 

Stock cards of comp, papier mache, and carton Pierre designs (acc. 01x154.1-.4) purchased from Carmen Valentino.

 

Stock cards, volume of drawings, blueprints, loose photos and drawings (acc. 04x019) purchased from Martha Ionson, Westwood, Massachusetts.  Mrs. Ionson’s husband was a cabinet maker who had worked at Irving and Casson while a young man.

 

Accession 16x76: purchased from Jonathan McLean, Fine Furniture.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            A.H. Davenport Co.

            Furniture - Drawings.

            Furniture - Styles.

            Furniture design.

            Furniture making.

            Furniture industry and trade - Massachusetts - Boston.

            Business records - Massachusetts - Boston.

            Chairs - Drawings.

            Chair design.

            Tables – Drawings.

Household electronics.

            Church furniture.

            Decoration and ornament, Architectural.

            Papier-mâché - Catalogs.

                       

Drawings.

            Ledgers.

            Sketches.

            Photoprints.

            Clippings.

            Blueprints.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 8 G 1-5

 

 

Note: items are from acc. 04x19 unless otherwise noted

 

 

Vol. 1:             Scrapbook of accounts, designs, etc., 1912-1918 (acc. 79x69)

 

Vol. 2:             Volume of furniture drawings, 1908-1910

 

 

Box 1: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Bedsteads

 

 

Box 2: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Blanket and trousseau chests, boxes, coffers

                                    [for additional chests, see acc. 16x76]

 

Folder 3:          Bookcases, book ends, book rest, book rack, book stand

 

Folder 4:          Bureaus

 

 

Box 3: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Bureaus

 

Folders 3-4:     Cabinets

 

 

Box 4: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Chairs: arm chairs

 

 

Box 5: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Chairs: arm chairs

 

 

Box 6: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Chairs: arm chairs

 

 

Box 7: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Chairs: arm chairs

 

Folder 3:          Chairs: church and chapel chairs

                        (see also: Ecclesiastical pieces)

 

Folder 4           Chairs: easy chairs and wing chairs

 

 

Box 8: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Chairs: easy chairs and wing chairs

 

Folder 5:          Chairs: miscellaneous: cottage, desk, high, Italian, Morris, office, wicker, and Windsor chairs

 

 

Box 9: Stock cards

 

Folder 1:          Chairs: rocking chairs

 

Folders 2-4:     Chairs: side chairs

 

 

Box 10: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Chairs: side chairs

 

 

Box 11: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Chairs: side chairs

 

Folder 5:          Chairs: swivel chairs

 

 

Box 12: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Chests of drawers, chiffarobes, chiffoniers, wardrobes

                                    [for additional chests, see acc. 16x76]

 

Folder 3:          Clocks, and a humidor

 

Folder 4:          Desks, writing tables, secretaries

 


Box 13: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Desks, writing tables, secretaries

 

Folders 3-4:     Dressing tables, vanity cases

 

 

Box 14: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Ecclesiastical pieces: kneelers, pews and stalls, crosses, Stations of the Cross, prie-dieus, figures (statures and carvings), hymn boards, lecterns, reredos, frame for stations, prayer desks

(see also Chairs: church and chapel)

 

Folder 3:          groups of furniture

 

Folder 4:          Hat trees, clothes poles, costumiers

 

Folder 5:          Highboys and lowboys

 

 

Box 15: Stock cards

 

Folder 1:          Mirrors

 

Folder 2:          Miscellaneous pieces: unnamed item (desk for bank customers?), cupboard, flower stand, ink well, mazer, newel post, pedestal, tray, trunk stand, umbrella stand, waste basket, Welsh dresser, wood box or basket

 

Folder 3:          Night tables (also called bed-side tables or somnos)

 

Folder 4:          Phonograph, radio, and telephone chests, cabinets, and tables

 

 

Box 16: Stock cards

 

Folder 1:          Picture and mirror frames

 

Folder 2:          Screens and fire screens

 

Folders 3-5:     Sideboards

 

 

Box  17: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Sofas, settles, settees, chaises longues, day beds

 

 

Box 18: Stock cards

 

Folder 1:          Sofas, settles, settees, chaises longues, day beds

 

Folder 2:          Stands

 

Folders 3-4:     Stools, foot stools, ottomans, benches, seats

 

 

Box 19: Stock cards

 

Folders 1-2:     Stools, foot stools, ottomans, benches, seats

 

 

Boxes 20-24:   Stock cards

 

Folders 1-4:     Tables

 

 

Box 25:

 

Folder 1:          Blueprints for furniture

 

Folder 2:          Drawings of furniture

 

Folder 3:          Photos: beds; bureaus; cabinets

 

Folder 4:          Photos: chairs: arm chairs, easy chairs

 

Folder 5:          Photos: chairs: side chairs

 

Folder 6:          Photos: chests and bills for chests, made out to Thos. G. Plant and M.M. Dobyne

 

Folder 7:          Photos: desks; ecclesiastical furniture; mirror; sideboard; sofas; tables

 

Folder 8:          Booklets about the company, one about “Restoration at Harvard Business School,” and the other about work done at various places, neither dated, probably circa 1970 [no accession number]

 

 

Box 26: photographs

 

Folders 1-5:     photos which came in an envelope marked “Chests. 8” (acc. 16x76.1-.52]

                                    The photos are mostly of blanket chests, but also include a few chests of drawers and cabinets.  Most have a stock number, but sometimes the numbers on the front and back of the photo are not the same.  Some of the photos are dated (1908-1924).  Most of photos include name of customer, or note that a piece is “stock.”  Almost all break down the components of the price: milling, carving, cabinet, finishing, hardware, overhead, etc.  Some of the photos are identical to those on the stock cards in the boxes above.

 

 

Box 27: (large folder)

 

Acc. 01x154.1-.4        sample cards of compo, papier maché, and carton pierre designs available from Irving and Casson; each card shows pictures of designs, each with a number, and the sizes of each.  The designs include column capitals; heads of lions, mythological figures, and winged cupids; shells; and panels.