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ROSEWOOD OVERMANTEL
Herter Brothers
New York, circa 1887
From William Rockefeller’s (1841–1922)
Hudson River Estate, North Tarrytown, N.Y.
H.103", W. 86"
Courtesy of B & D Johnson Antiques, LLC
This is the only known element to have survived the 1942 demolition of Rockwood Hall, the 204-room Tudor mansion of William Rockefeller (1841–1922), built in North Tarrytown, N.Y., in 1887. Removed from the drawing room, this extraordinary mantel consists of seven panels, doweled for assembly, each marked in black crayon script: Rockwood Hall, Drawing Room Mantel 8108. The use of crayon and numbering system is known to exist on other Herter Brothers pieces.
The 7-foot torcheres on either side were originally fitted with candelabras, and the corners on the base have finely carved rams’ heads above carved lions’ faces. The Rockefeller Archives Center has no record of any other items that survived the razing of Rockwood Hall other than a family photo album and the estate inventory taken upon the death of William Rockefeller. This masterpiece was discovered in a warehouse in Buffalo, N.Y., by B & D Johnson Antiques, LLC, of Greenwich, Conn., at whose shop it is now prominently displayed. |
