Wardrobe
Artist:
Henry Harms
(American, 1814 - 1897)
Culture: Rutersville, Texas
Date: ca. 1860
Medium: Pine
Dimensions:
h. 87 1/2 in. (222.3 cm); w. 64 in. (162.6 cm); d. 22 in. (55.9 cm)
Credit Line: San Antonio Museum of Art, gift of Faith and Charles Bybee
Object number: 92.60.4
Label Text
Wardrobes were essential pieces of furniture in nineteenth century Texas because of the absence of closets. One of the most expensive pieces of furniture in a cabinet-maker's inventory, they sold for about thirty-five dollars at mid-century. Known in German as "Kleiderschranck," this example is from Rutersville. Several wardrobes by Mr. Harms are in the Texas Collection of Mrs. Charles L. Bybee, two of which were made as wedding gifts for Mr. Harms' daughters.
As settlers flocked to Texas during its incarnations as a republic and then a state, the need for furniture grew along with the population. The cost of importing furniture from other parts of the United States or Europe was prohibitive; thus, 19th century Texans often designed and built to suit their own needs, relying especially on the influx of craftsmen from Germany. Although the forms of Texas furniture closely resemble case and seating furniture used elsewhere, they are made of woods native to the state such as pine and walnut, and are embellished with less expensive decorations, such as simpler porcelain pulls for drawers. The objects on view were once owned by Houstonian Faith L. Bybee, a passionate collector of American furniture and decorative arts who embraced the styles of her native state as well as examples of design from the Eastern Seaboard.
(Texas Gallery, 2018)
As settlers flocked to Texas during its incarnations as a republic and then a state, the need for furniture grew along with the population. The cost of importing furniture from other parts of the United States or Europe was prohibitive; thus, 19th century Texans often designed and built to suit their own needs, relying especially on the influx of craftsmen from Germany. Although the forms of Texas furniture closely resemble case and seating furniture used elsewhere, they are made of woods native to the state such as pine and walnut, and are embellished with less expensive decorations, such as simpler porcelain pulls for drawers. The objects on view were once owned by Houstonian Faith L. Bybee, a passionate collector of American furniture and decorative arts who embraced the styles of her native state as well as examples of design from the Eastern Seaboard.
(Texas Gallery, 2018)
On view
In Collection(s)
The San Antonio Museum of Art is in the process of digitizing its permanent collection. This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect SAMA's complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of such records is ongoing.
This resource has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
