- Desk
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Austin cabinetmaker Adolph Kempen created this desk with an exuberant mixture of styles characteristic of the Victorian era. Combining Rococo Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Gothic Revival details with a prominent five-pointed Texas star, he gave a strong local flavor to a piece of furniture that reflected national fashions. The desk was offered as a prize in raffle in about 1875, and it stayed in the winner’s family for over 100 years before a Houston collector acquired it.
Adapted from Lonn Taylor and David B. Warren. Texas Furniture: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840–1880. Vol. 1, rev. ed. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 2012.
ProvenanceWon at a raffle by Ernest Von Rosenberg, Austin; by descent to his son Ernest Von Rosenberg (d. 1966); by descent to his nephew Hermann Von Rosenberg (1926–2011), Baytown, Texas; purchased by William J. Hill (1934–2018), Houston, 2009; loaned to MFAH, 2009; given to MFAH, 2012.
Exhibition History"A Texas Legacy: Selections from the William J. Hill Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, October 2, 2016–January 2, 2017.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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