Daniel Pabst
Encyclopedia
Frank Furness
Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan...
(1839-1912), he crafted pieces in the Neo-Grec
Neo-Grec
Neo-Grec is a term referring to late manifestations of Neoclassicism, early Neo-Renaissance now called the Greek Revival style, which was popularized in architecture, the decorative arts, and in painting during France's Second Empire, or the reign of Napoleon III, a period that lasted...
, Renaissance Revival, Modern Gothic, and Colonial Revival styles. Examples of his work are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
, the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, and the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in Great Britain.
Background
Born in Langenstein, Germany, Pabst immigrated to the U.S. in 1849 and settled in Philadelphia, where he would spend his professional career. The excellence of his craftsmanship elevated him above his peers, as did the strongly architectonic (building-like) quality of his furniture designs—often massively scaled, with columns, pilasters, rounded and Gothic arches, bold carving and polychromatic decoration. He was a master at cameo-carving (intaglio) in wood: veneering a light-colored wood over a darker, then carving through to create a vivid contrast. Some pieces were adorned with decorative tiles, others with painted glass panels backed with reflective foil. Elaborate strap hinges and hardware were commonly used, and the furniture was sometimes ebonized. His Philadelphia shop grew to employ up to 50 workmen, but the company's records do not survive. Of the presumably thousands of pieces produced over half a century, only two are signed. Therefore, identification of his work must be made through other documentation or through attribution.With Furness
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, others now in the Barrie & Deedee Wigmore collection, NYC), which are visible in a circa-1900 photograph of Horace Howard Furness's library.
In 1873 Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. (father of the future president) hired Furness to decorate his newly-built townhouse at 6 West 57th Street, New York City (demolished). Based on designs in Furness's sketchbook, manufacture of the ornate paneling, bookcases, cabinetry and mantels is attributed to Pabst, along with individual furniture pieces. The massive dining table—with a base of carved egrets eating frogs—is in the collection of the High Museum of Art
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art , located in Atlanta, is the leading art museum in the Southeastern United States and one of the most-visited art museums in the world. Located on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district, the High is a division of the Woodruff Arts Center.-History:The Museum was...
, Atlanta. The cameo-carved master bedroom suite is at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
Sagamore Hill
Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located at the end of Cove Neck Road in the Incorporated Village of Cove Neck, New York, on Long Island, 25 miles east of Manhattan. Sagamore Hill is located within...
, President Theodore Roosevelt's summer home in Oyster Bay, NY. Antiques expert/dealer Robert Edwards (who discovered the Pabst-attributed cabinets now at the Brooklyn Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art) has identified a chair now in the Barrie & Deedee Wigmore collection as having come from the Roosevelt library.
An 8 feet (2.4 m)-tall Aesthetic Movement exhibition cabinet at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is attributed to Furness and Pabst. It features cameo-carved doors in maple and walnut, painted glass panels backed with foil, a shingled-roof top, and ornate brass hardware. This tour de force, reminiscent of Furness's bank buildings of the late-1870s, may be the masterpiece of their collaboration.
Without Furness
Pabst created masterworks without Furness. He received a medal for excellence at the 1876 Centennial ExpositionCentennial Exposition
The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia. It was officially...
for a large walnut sideboard (whereabouts unknown). "The amount of rich carving far surpassed that on any other Gothic piece in the Exhibition; but in the main it was without purpose or distinctive meaning. Still it was free from conventionalisms..."
The paneling, library, mantels and grand staircase of the John Bond Trevor mansion "Glenview
John Bond Trevor House
John Bond Trevor House, also known as "Glenview," is a historic home located at Yonkers, Westchester County, New York. It was designed in 1876 by the noted architect Charles W. Clinton and built for John Bond Trevor in an eclectic Late Victorian style. It is a -story building with an 84 foot...
" in Yonkers, NY—part of the Hudson River Museum
Hudson River Museum
The Hudson River Museum, located in Trevor Park in Yonkers, New York, is the largest museum in Westchester County. The Yonkers Museum, founded in 1919 at City Hall, became the Hudson River Museum in 1948...
-- are attributed to Pabst based on an 1877 newspaper article, as is the diningroom's sideboard. The latter's fox-and-crane decoration (from Aesop's Fables) is repeated on the sideboard at the Art Institute of Chicago.
A business profile from 1886:
Daniel Pabst, Designer and Manufacturer of Artistic Furniture, No. 269 South Fifth Street—One of the leading and most successful designers and manufacturers of artistic furniture in Philadelphia is Mr. Daniel Pabst, whose office and manufactory are located at No. 269 South Fifth Street. The business was established in 1854 by Pabst & Wrauss, who were pioneers in the trade here. About 16 years ago Mr. Pabst became sole proprietor. The premises are very spacious, admirably arranged, and equipped throughout with every facility and convenience for the transaction of business, employment being given to 25 skilled workmen. Mr. Pabst designs and manufactures art and antique furniture of all kinds, which, for beauty and originality of design, superior and elaborate finish are unexcelled. The trade of the house extends through this and adjacent States. It is so well known and has retained its old customers for so long a time, that its reputation for honorable, straightforward dealing is established beyond the requirements of praise.
Legacy
Pabst retired in 1896, but continued making furniture for friends and family members into his eighties. In June 1910, he was honored by the University of Pennsylvania for 50 years of carving senior-class "Honor Men Awards". He died in Philadelphia the following month, on July 15.The largest collection of Pabst furniture is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
; including a 14-piece Renaissance Revival diningroom suite and a music cabinet made for Henry Charles Lea
Henry Charles Lea
Henry Charles Lea was an American historian, civic reformer, and political activist. Lea was born and lived in Philadelphia.-Parents:...
(c.1868), two pier mirrors made for Charles T. Parry (c.1870), a Modern Gothic cameo-carved bedroom suite made for Pabst's daughter Emma (c.1878), and a signed and dated Modern Gothic grandfather clock ("Daniel Pabst, Artist, 1884."). In addition to the above museums, he is represented in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
, the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
The Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
, the Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art is an art museum situated in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian art, the museum houses a diverse permanent collection of more than 43,000...
, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
The Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute is a regional fine arts center founded in 1919 and located in Utica, New York. The institute has three program divisions:*Museum of art*Performing arts*School of art-Museum of art:...
in Utica, NY, and the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, DE.
A great-grandson, Richard Pabst, is assembling a complete list of his known and attributed works. The Philadelphia Museum of Art is preparing a comprehensive exhibition of his furniture.
Examples of Daniel Pabst's work
- Victoria and Albert Museum, Frank Furness-designed chair from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
- Philadelphia Museum of Art, Frank Furness-designed desk and chair
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, Aesthetic Movement exhibition cabinet
- Art Institute of Chicago, "Fox and Crane" sideboard
- Glenview Mansion, Entrance Hall and Grand Staircase
- Brooklyn Museum, Cabinet
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Pedestal
- University of Pennsylvania, "Honor Men Awards"